Ballet Class Things: How to Stand #dancerlife #balletdancer #balletclass

[ovalandovoid]

Hands on hips to me is an active pose that shows focus and anticipation. Arms crossed in the front seems passive and uninterested. As you said, body language is so culturally tied.

[Gooberthatloveskny]

I remember getting yelled at for standing in the way that you stated is best, my teacher called me shy and I need to be more confident, encouraging me to stand hands on hips. It’s so interesting to see the difference in teachers

[Natalie]

Yikes, I’m a figure skater and I can’t imagine my coach harping on me for relaxing my posture in between elements or while she’s showing me something. We’re constantly slouched over and whacking our legs and lower backs with our fists lol. I’m glad we’re not as rigid as ballet.

[Themadmaddie]

In my little adhd brain I don’t even pause to think about how I carry myself or stand. The fact that you have to be conscious of that ALL THE TIME is insane to me

[VivianPinto]

As a teacher, I agree with everyone talking about the crossed arms, it makes you look mad or uninterested, but other than that, just be comfortable, it's important too.

[etcetera]

I attended top schools and danced ballet professionally and people taking expectations on how others should present themselves too far is the very thing that drove me to quit and change careers. I showed up, worked my butt off and applied feedback every day but was constantly the subject of ridicule from teachers, artistic staff and company peers because I didn't submit to the archaic "master-apprentice" dynamic.

The way I see it is we're all adult human beings who know ourselves better than anyone else. What's important is that you're showing up and trying to improve in the way that works best for you while remaining open to feedback. If you need to stretch while the teacher is giving a combination then that's your prerogative, you know you better than the teacher does. As long as it's not disrupting the class or getting in the way of your own progression then do what you've got to do.

In the ballet world, adults are all too often treated as children who need to be wrangled and taught respect and it's toxic.

[delphinidin]

ballet's perfectionism and constant thinking about how you look to other people is a microcosm of the pressures our society puts on women to continuously be conscious of their role as aesthetic objects for other people. (this is not ballet hate lol)

[itac.]

You’re really expecting people to perform even when they’re just standing 😅

[silg]

This is why i love circus and modern or contemporary. Having to be concious of how you look at all times isn't healthy in the long run for most people.

[geekchick]

What you do next defines whether you were paying attention or not. Nothing to do with the way you stand, whether you fidget etc. all of that is just such bull shit.

[Tillereen]

Retired gymnast here, we got smacked or barked at until we learned to default to fourth cross. I still stand like that in meetings, in line, in presentations and I cannot unlearn it. I understand how important it is, but damn.

[TillyP]

I always thought having my hands on my hips and slightly crouching and slouching and not caring about the way I was presenting and more caring about taking in the information was better because that’s my like thinking and processing position so if I were to teach I would rather see my students like that instead of trying to hold themselves up and look presentable when I want them to think about the combination not how their presenting

[GirlyGirlInc]

My ballet teacher always tells us to have our hands at our sides or behind our back. Crossed or on your hips can be disrespectful and having them in front makes you seem small and nervous. She also loves to point out anytime our feet are even slightly turned in even when just standing. 💖 love the vid

[jammyintears]

Throwback to being told not to stand like we’re in a queue at Tesco😅

[internetisabadplace]

Why would I ever compromise my ability to pay attention to instruction by instead paying attention to my posture?

[SkyeAten]

Interesting but why does it matter? So if you're feeling shy and uncomfortable you're not allowed to show it?? What about a new student that still needs to gain that confidence, do they now have to fake it for the comfort of everyone else so that they don't look "uninterested" and make everyone else uncomfortable or something?

[littlewickedone]

I just have to disagree... focusing on irrelevent things like "how elongated" your body looks while you're trying to learn the combo and absorb what your teacher is literally trying to teach you is just counter-productive.

This pervasive mindset in ballet where it's okay to hyper-analyze students at every moment leads to a fear-based relationship with teachers and teaches students to be overly self-critical and cultivate low self-esteem. I've had Russian teachers who took this mindset to the extreme and even observed students outside the classroom, correcting our posture or behavior while just sitting in the locker room or commenting on what we ate for lunch.

We already scrutinize every tiny line and angle on ourselves in the mirror during every waking moment we can, are we not allowed stop worrying about what we look like even for a moment to actually LEARN?

I'm not sure I'll ever understand how just standing in a certain way is so often interpreted by teachers as a sign of disrespect. Sure, certain body language clearly shows when you're not paying attention, like looking away or rolling your eyes. But if I unintentionally cross my arms, rest my hands on my hips, squat down to see the footwork better, or, god forbid, allow my body to execute the involuntary action known as a yawn, how is any of that disrespectful? And why should I have to worry about getting in trouble for such benign things rather than focusing on learning and improving my actual dance technique?

Sorry for the rant, but growing up in ballet and looking back on my experience, I have realized there is a huge amount of problematic and traumatic treatment of kids going on that everyone just seems to overlook. Ballet is an amazing art form and should be shared with joy. It shouldn't leave as many kids traumatized with low self-esteem, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia as it does.

[mackenzienelson]

I kind of hate this. It brings back memories of being screamed at as a child. My teachers never taught this lesson gently with us kids.

[GreenSharpieScience]

These types of things make it remarkably hard for ADHD students if teachers are judging this. It’s not right.

[alecrego]

I love the part where she fully explains the difference