Budding Prima Donnas, Show-offs, etc.

[Jane]

Dear Moon,
The important addendum in this case is that it is okay people have the good common sense and respect for the dance to realize whether or not they are professional quality dancers or hobbyists. There is nothing at all wrong with just enjoying the dance for the sake of doing it, but the problem develops when someone decides they are way better than they actually are and they pass themselves off as professional when they are not. We owe something back to the dance and one of the big things is doing an honest appraisal of our abilities in the form and working in the venues that are appropriate to our skill levels.
Regards,
A'isha

I fully agree with this. Everyone can belly dance, but not everyone can be a professional. There is nothing wrong with being a hobbyist and simply enjoying the dance.

Prima-donnas are taken care of by the universe; eventually they have a bad performance or watch some other dancer blow them out of the water. It happened to me I was never mean or nasty to anyone, but I got cocky around year six in the dance. Then I had a really bad performance in front of my dance peers. Took the wind right out of my sails! I b!tched and vented at myself for awhile, then I got my act together and reassesed my attitude and abilaties. It was a growth phase I needed to become a better dancer and person.

[Aradia]

I have found one of those in my class, and she is very lazy at learning the choreography, not keeping her arms in the same place as the other dancers etc. So I tell the class that they are required to learn a certain dance exactly as I teache it, and they have to perform it for me solo, just the 2 of us in the room, not in front of the other students, then I will give them notes on their strong and weak spots. Usually just the suggestion of this brings that ego into check. I haven't had to actually do it, because they realize they can't fool their teacher.

[jenc]

I have found one of those in my class, and she is very lazy at learning the choreography, not keeping her arms in the same place as the other dancers etc. So I tell the class that they are required to learn a certain dance exactly as I teache it, and they have to perform it for me solo, just the 2 of us in the room, not in front of the other students, then I will give them notes on their strong and weak spots. Usually just the suggestion of this brings that ego into check. I haven't had to actually do it, because they realize they can't fool their teacher.

i would actually love someone to do that for me - but then I work hard to improve myself. It sometimes gets to me that other dancers don't even seem to be able to see what their teacher is actually doing.

[Aisha Azar]

I have found one of those in my class, and she is very lazy at learning the choreography, not keeping her arms in the same place as the other dancers etc. So I tell the class that they are required to learn a certain dance exactly as I teache it, and they have to perform it for me solo, just the 2 of us in the room, not in front of the other students, then I will give them notes on their strong and weak spots. Usually just the suggestion of this brings that ego into check. I haven't had to actually do it, because they realize they can't fool their teacher.

Dear Aradia,
I emptied my mailbox if you want to resubmit. (Sorry, I did not realize it was full.)
Regards,
A'isha

[sedoniaraqs]

Hmmmmm INTERESTING......

So that means that there are people out there who will never "get it" cos they are born ""with 2 left feet"? I was under the impresion that although some people are more talented in one sphere than the other,there are not those totally deprived and not trainable?????.....

Your thoughts on that?

I don't think this is what anyone is saying.

Everyone can be trained so that they improve their skills and abilities. However, not everyone will be able to perform at a professional level. And among those that perform at a professional level, a few will be mind-blowingly great but most will not.

There is a huge difference between acknowledging that people have differing skills, abilities, intelligence, etc., and ACTING on that knowledge in such a way as to exclude people from receiving education and opportunities to improve.

[ShiroiOji]

There's one of those in my class, and my instructor is really good about taming her without being nasty. When the show-off points out what we're doing wrong or tries re-instructing us, my instructor starts pointing out the things that we're doing right, what things we have that are strengths. This ususally frustrates the show-off and she shuts up.

[Marietta]

I am a student dealing with a prima donna student in my class. She is very talented. She is just a natural dancer. Unfortunately, she lets everyone know she is. During class and rehearsal for recitals she will talk or rude noises while others are practicing. She is already trying out for the teachers group. She will gossip during rehearsals with girls from that group making snide comments about the other students who are not as talented as she. The teacher is so nice, she doesn't correct or say anything to her. It stresses out the rest of us students and frazzles us. Our classes when that prima donna is not there, flows and is much funner when she's not around. The rest of us are very encouraging to each other. We don't need that prima donna around.

Hi everyone, I just joined today. I have also had problems with a student in my class, like you dreamkitaro. I have been dancing for just over two years. I used to go to a different class to Sally* but then my usual class was cancelled, so I went to the same one as her. (She is also one of the better dancers in that class). She sometimes buys things for people to use for dances or events and if you don't buy them (even though you're not being nasty) she seems to get angry about it. Some of these things are too expensive or I don't like them and wouldn't use them again, so there's no point in buying them (and it's meant to be optional). Also she tells other people they're doing things wrong eg. they're going too fast or doing something differently to her. She (and a couple of others) sometimes argue with the teacher about the dance moves, she sends these ranting emails about things, like someone's upset her and also there has been conflict over the dances because the teacher taught them differently at different classes. There was one particular move that I did differently and I said to the teacher I would change it if she wanted but she said "keep doing it the way you've been doing it". Nobody else seems to have a problem with it apart from Sally. I feel like there's a bad atmospere in the class.
I thought, was it just me who had problems with her but other people have said that she told them what to do and shouted at them during a practice and a couple of other people have told me they don't like her attitude. I'm currently taking a break from the class because of those things and another situation I'd rather not go intoat the moment. I probably won't go back because I don't think things are going to change. I have tried talking to the teacher but I don't think she wants to hear me. She's not been well, so that will be part of the reason why but I would have thought that Sally's behaviour would stress her out more. It might help if other people talked to her (the teacher) but they're either too scared, don't mind it as much or they don't go to the class anymore. Has your situation improved dreamkitaro?

*not her real name