discouraged beginner in need of advice.

[Ulele]

hi,

well, i've been taking beginner belly dance classes at a location about thirty minutes out of town from me for a little over a month now. all was fine for the first few classes when we eased into everything slowly and i found it pretty comfortable to learn. however, the last few weeks have been not so pleasant for me. my classmate, whom i have nothing against, seems to always be vying for the teacher's attention. sometimes the class will be put on hold just so the teacher and this particular student can talk to each other with me just standing there, and i find it unnerving.

our teacher only taught us the moves to the routine we're now practicing one time, and it's fast-paced and each week i have trouble remembering everything and executing it correctly at the right time. i feel like it's too soon for us to be doing a fast routine, but i don't know. i also feel as if i'm the 'awkward one' because i mess up and i'm the ONLY one in the class that gets corrected when i see my 'attention-craving' classmate executing certain moves wrong, but with her it just slips right under the radar.

i'm really confused, because i feel 'picked on' and i really can't keep up with the fast-paced routine it feels like we've just suddenly been thrust into. the classes have become something i'm not enjoying as much anymore. i don't want to cease learning, because i still have that passion in me for it, but i don't know what to do at this point. it's frustrating. should i stick with it or leave and work with a different instructor closer to home?

any advice/insight would be appreciated.

~Ulele

[Shanazel]

It is always best to have an instructor you are comfortable with, but don't let an attention-seeking classmate get to you. Count yourself lucky that the teacher pays attention to you and corrects you- that's how you learn. Consider it personal attention and not getting picked on!

If the teacher is moving faster than you are comfortable with you have a legitimate reason to change teachers. You might tell the instructor that the class is too fast paced for you and ask for the name of a teacher who takes beginners through classes at a slower pace. If you do it nicely, she shouldn't take offense. All teachers are not suited to all students.

[LadyLoba]

The attention you get vs the attention the "showoff" classmate gets might be kind of a veiled (no pun intended) compliment to you. Your teacher might just not even be paying attention to this student's mistakes because she might see this woman/girl as one of those "Look at ME...Look at ME" types who isn't really taking the art form or the class seriously...so it might not be worth her effort in her mind to bother correcting her.....the student might be fun to have around and fun to have in class...but not really someone worth working with.


But if she's bothering to correct you...she's probably noted that you are taking this seriously and genuinely want to learn.

I'm a little nervous about the pace of classes when I finally do get to take one...I'm a little bit scared I'm going to wind up in one that just goes too fast for me too....I'm glad to hear admitting that isn't considered rude to the teacher..

[Greek Bonfire]

Yes, you are fortunate when a teacher corrects you. Also, go home and practice all week. Doing "homework" is a huge part of learning. As far as the PIA classmate, many classes have one. I somehow don't think that will go on forever, as I am sure the others are probably complaining to each other, if not to the teacher (yet).

[Ulele]

she appears to be one of those "look at me!" types thus far. she didn't even know what bollywood was, or that there are different types of belly dance, which struck me as sort of odd for someone that had been 'wanting to belly dance for ten years'.

i just felt as if i must somehow be doing something 'wrong' if i'm the only one that ever gets corrected. i get the sort of "oh, i see you feel awkward doing this" or "you're stepping too wide for this move, i don't know why you're doing that" corrections.

and yeah, i personally think it's too soon for us to be practicing a routine at 'chipmunk pace'.

[Farasha Hanem]

Ditto, ditto, and ditto to everything Shanazel and LadyLoba said. Last year, I was given a chance to move up from my beginner/intermediate class into the regular intermediate class. I'd been in the main teacher's class before, and knew I wouldn't be able to keep up, so I requested to stay in the beginner/intermediate class for another year. I'm so glad I did. At the beginning of term this year, which was the first week of this month, I moved into the regular intermediate class. I'm still struggling quite a bit, and yes, my teacher gets on to me a lot, but I know it's out of a desire to truly help me. She knows how badly I want to do well, and I believe with all my heart that she wants the same thing for me. She has a passion to make sure all her students learn, grow, and dance with both proficiency and feeling. I'm glad that she cares so much.

Have a heart-to-heart talk with your teacher, and let her know that you don't feel ready for the more advanced pace, and as already suggested, ask her if she has any recommendations if your studio doesn't offer different class levels. I wish you all the best, and BIG HUGS to you!

[Darshiva]

I'd talk to the teacher about your problems in the classroom. She may not realise that you all need to go over the routine again before practice. She might be aware of the needy show-off, but not of how detrimental it's being to the other classmates. And she's almost certainly not aware that calling you out (instead of correcting in a general 'okay, it's tempting to do it like this, however the correct way to do it is this') is causing you distress.

That said, I'm agreeing with the others here. I'm almost always hardest on the students I know are keen to learn, and those who are just in it for fun I leave to have their fun. Everyone gets something different out of dance class.

If a chat with your teacher does nothing to resolve the issue, it might be time to look into another teacher.

[Ulele]

at the studio there's a beginner's class and then there's an advanced class. the advanced class is made up mostly of people that have been learning for years if my understanding is right.

i've never taken a dance class before, so i've never dealt with this kind of situation. thanks to everyone for the insight so far, it's been helpful.

i'll let her know that i'm uncomfortable with the pace we've been practicing at and see what happens. thanks again.

[Farasha Hanem]

Let us know how it goes, Ulele!

[Shanazel]

I'm almost always hardest on the students I know are keen to learn, and those who are just in it for fun I leave to have their fun.

Yep, me, too. One of my students told me that the proudest day of her dancing life was when I said, "You are officially good enough to get picked on: prepare yourself."