Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
GIVING FEEDBACK AND CORRECTING BALLET STUDENTS
Author: SVEBOR SECAK, MA (Hons)
Presentation for the 37th CID World Congress on Dance Research in Athens, Greece July 2 – 6, 2014
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
My name is Svebor Secak and I am currently the artistic director of the Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and the president of the Croatian Society of Professional Ballet Artists. After completing my education in Croatia as a dancer, I was trained at the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. During my career I worked with many eastern and western European classical and contemporary choreographers. I received my BA (First Class Hons) degree in Dance Education from the Royal Academy of Dance in London, UK where, after a holistic approach to ballet studies my focus eventually started to narrow to ballet as theatre art. Accordingly, this became the area of my graduate studies, so in 2010, I completed my MA Hons degree at the University of New England, Australia, with the research topic 'Staging Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the language of classical ballet'. In 2011 I enrolled for a PhD degree at the same University and completed it in January this year with the topic 'Shakespeare's Hamlet in ballet–a neoclassical and postmodern contemporary approach'. As of September last year, I am the associate lecturer at the University of Zagreb, teaching dance education at the new Department for ballet pedagogy and contemporary dance.
Until now, I have participated as lecturer at the following CID Congresses:
In 2008 at the 22nd World Congress on Dance Research, Athens Greece with the topic 'Implementing the Vaganova technique outside the Vaganova Academy in a safe manner'.
In 2009 at the 3rd International Congress in Istanbul, Turkey with the topic 'Ballet and its Classicism'.
In 2009 at the 23rd World Congress on Dance Research in Malaga, Spain with the topic 'Shakespeare`s Romeo and Juliet as ballet'.
In 2013 at the 34th World Congress on Dance Research in Montreal Canada, with the topic: 'Ballet and Dance after Postmodernism'.
On this occasion, I am going to talk about giving feedback / correcting ballet students.
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
At first, I am going to discuss some of the existing published material presented by authors who suggest a proper manner to correct ballet students. According to Julia Buckroyd the most obvious function of the dance teacher is to teach students and pupils how to dance. On the basis of the training, experience of dancing and training and career as pedagogue, the teacher brings to the dance class a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the students. Traditionally, this knowledge and experience have been enclosed in the teacher's ability to demonstrate the movements and positions that need to be taught (or have another person demonstrate them) and also in the teacher's eye which can identify when and how students failed to reproduce what was demonstrated. Although the described skills are central and crucial to the dance teacher, the tasks of the dance teacher have been widened and should include knowledge of other subjects. As the field of dance medicine and science has expanded, it has become increasingly necessary for teachers to know more about anatomy and physiology and to have an understanding of nutrition and fitness, since it is becoming very clear that injuries very often occur due to faulty technique. Furthermore, the teacher should provide a supportive atmosphere which must include the use of positive forms of speech, the recognition of achievement and effort and specific, focused and particular feedback.
Richard Glasstone mentions two of the most important things for any young ballet teacher to learn. For him they are when to correct a student and how much to say. Speaking for too long about any specific point or attempting to correct too many things at the same time are not the proper ways to achieve best results. Moreover, it is preferable not to anticipate a fault; it is better to wait and see what the dancer will actually perform. Likewise, it is better not to interrupt a dancer midway through the performance of an enchaînement. Once the pianist has started playing the music, the teacher must stop giving the students instructions. Furthermore, a single well-chosen correction can produce several beneficial results. However, insisting on the same movement for too long is usually counter-productive.
According to Rachel Rist the difference between being good and being great may be in the head. Developing self-esteem in the students is crucial – learning to evaluate objectively strengths and weaknesses is difficult. It is vital to have realistic goals that are
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
achievable. Rist states that positive words such as “powerful”, “flowing”, “energised”, “dynamic” can produce an emotional reaction at an unconscious level that can assist the dancer in focusing on the performance. Learning to be objective about our work is a good life skill. By learning from the positive and treating the mistakes as challenges to improve, the students are constantly developing mental toughness and a sense of their own evolution.
Emotions, performance, anxiety, motivation, mood and confidence can be responsible for the quality of training. According to Carr and Wyon, orientation in education should be more taskmastering that is, positively associated with motivational factors like intrinsic motivation and positive effect of the belief in success, otherwise it can lead to neurotic perfectionism caused by an excessive ambition of parents or teachers who do not permit any mistakes. According to David Fontana, one of the most important aspects of the teacher´s role is their reaction to success and failure in children. Making mistakes is not evidence of failure, but an integral and essential part of the learning process.
Many ballet teachers use professional, teacher-centred methods and command style, using them in a very rigid way, not tolerating mistakes and errors, often using strong language. In today´s teaching and learning environment, it might be improper to train children in such a rigid manner. In their desire to produce ballet dancers, some teachers force children beyond their capabilities which can then cause consequences of poor alignment and core stability. Arguably, this brings the issue of producing dancers at no cost and leaves an impression that the stress is put on those who are perspective and insufficient attention is given to those who are not. Unfortunately, there are still too many teachers who only look at results and not at how they are achieved.
According to Howse, most dance injuries in students are caused by teachers who either instil a faulty technique or allow a faulty technique to develop. Today, I am going to discuss some of the usual corrections that have been proved to be invalid. An example of such faulty technique is a common feature of some ballet teachers, who insist that students “squeeze the tail” or “tuck under” to achieve the perfectly aligned posture. This “tucking under” is a common misinterpretation of straightening the spine and is formed when there is forced straightening of
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
the lumbar spine. Such teaching flattens all curves in the spine and greatly reduces spine´s flexibility and the capacity for shock absorption. When young, skeletally immature children “tuck under”, they can experience stress reactions and fractures of the vertebral arch. Such practice leads to stressed ligaments, bulky thighs, overall body tension and large buttocks muscles. Regardless of body predispositions of pupils, the concept of “tucking under” is thrown away according to Phillips, who stated that it is crucial that the pelvis is kept in the neutral position or in the middle, with neither an excessive arch nor a flattened, tucked-under tail.
Another common correction is insisting on excessive turn out. McCormack explained that when teachers insist on over-turning, meaning that the foot and the lower leg are being turned out beyond the degree of turn-out available at the hip joint, results could be very serious, if the child does not possess natural body predispositions for this. Howse stated that excessive turnout can severely weaken the students´ trunk muscles and when over-turning, ballet students have a marked pelvic tilt forward with the development of lordosis. Excessive turn-out greatly increases the rate of injury in the lumbar spine, including stress fractures. Forcing the turn-out, the outer part of the thigh can be greatly overdeveloped compared with the inner side of the thigh, causing the patella to be pulled sideways leading to pain over the front part of the knee. McCormack proposes that such pupils practice the first position placed at an angle of 160 degrees or even at 140 degrees, which a flexible strong hip would be able to control. Once joints are forced out of alignment, true balanced muscular control of the joint is lost and only by working within the range dictated by the hip joint can the externally rotated limb be securely controlled. Howse also suggested that in order to treat consequences of over-turning, the dancer must avoid turning feet out further than the available turn-out at the hips. According to Barrett, a common fault is to place the feet in 90 degrees and try to position the rest of the body around it. Core stability should be achieved first and then the turn-out of the feet, according to the natural capability of the student. Core stability is, according to Phillips, one of the most important aspects of safe practice. Technique training should be oriented towards central control of the spine and trunk and not to end-of-range movement of the periphery, especially during puberty, due to rapid changes in the length of the limbs. Teachers should
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
establish a base and then work on the arms and legs. This will be an easier way through growth spurt and will prepare children for work en pointe, turn-out and balance.
Desfor stated that many dancers have extreme joint mobility that can be an asset in the profession, but may also put them at risk of injury. An especially dangerous tendency of dancers with hypermobility is that their turn-out of the legs exceeds the maximum 180 degrees. However, Desfor stated that correct dance training can have positive benefits for someone with hypermobility, increasing joint stability, proprioception and muscle control.
According to Thomasen and Rist, another consequence of over-turning can be a deformity called hallux valgus or bunion. Any valgus deformity will be increased by rolling - putting strain on the great toe, tending to push it into the valgus position - especially during demipointe, relevé and work en pointe. When dancer´s weight is back, with failure of muscles in the thigh to hold the turn-out, dancers often claw their toes in an attempt to hold on at floor level, increasing intrinsic weakness. Some teachers claim that the valgus position can be avoided by correct training and turnout, if the weight is moved towards the small toe, however it can additionally disrupt the correct body alignment.
According to Howse, correct alignment can be visualised as a straight line running from the hips joint through the knee and ankle to the weight bearing part of the foot, which is under the second toe. When the turn-out starts at the feet and the knees and the hips are forced out there can occur misalignment and problems can develop anywhere along the leg. In correct alignment, knees must be over toes during plies and the angle of the knee joint must not be less than 900 when landing from jumps. Misalignment can put strain on tendon and ligament insertions and repetitive strain during periods of growth may lead to instability or joint laxity. Over time, hyperflexion and hyperextension of the spine may result in the displacement of the discs that can lead to back pain and restricted movement.
Another example of faulty teaching appears when children who have over-accentuated shoulder blades, and whose arms do not follow a direct line from their shoulders when in second position, tend to position their arms backwards to “squeeze in” the shoulder blades. Instead, they should “close” the rib cage in front and position their arms a bit to the front in the
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
second position; the shoulder blades will fall in place and alignment will be achieved. Again, core stability is of the utmost importance: the muscles that are of interest are the deep stabilisers of the trunk that form a corset around the abdomen between the ribs and the pelvis. Phillips explains that we are not interested in strength, but rather in control of the muscles, where they can work constantly for a long period of time at about 30% - 60%. The student might not feel these muscles actually working because they are working at a low level, but if they are tightening around the waist and drawing in, then they are correct.
Besides implementing proper technique in accordance with body predispositions of students, several other issues need to be considered. The ballet training demands enduring force and stamina. Often adolescent children might continue to exercise even when they are fatigued, because they do not perceive aerobic activities to be strenuous. It is up to the teacher to make sure that students had sufficient time to recover. High intensive activities, like jumping, must be short and intermittent with adequate periods of rest, because children are less efficient at performing short burst, high intensity activities than adults. During growth spurt, bones tend to grow faster than muscles and ligaments, so there is a tightening up because the rapidly growing bone will stretch and tighten soft tissues. When muscles start growing rapidly, they weaken significantly and it might be quite difficult to straighten them. Students tend to overstretch due to this apparent feeling of tightness and inflict injuries. The child needs a great deal of reassurance that this decrease in the range of movements will improve and the normal range will be regained once the growth spurt has been completed.
McCormack explained that faulty teaching, like poor alignment and excessive turnout of the feet, might make the dancer vulnerable to injury, especially during the allegro section in a ballet class. Excessive turning out of the feet destabilises the posture and pulls the weight back, while it is the allegro section that will suffer most with lack of foot power and incorrect alignment of the dancer. A problem appears when the landing must be performed with the heels down, which is the usual correction. McCormack explained that in dancers who have a shallow demi-plié, caused by short calf muscles and Achilles tendon, going up in the jump will not cause a problem, but landing with heels down will present problems, since the short plié cannot absorb shock sufficiently. The dancer will push the heel to the floor and land, the heel
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
will release and the dancer will push the heel down a second time, resulting in the “double heel” strike. The result is often shin pain and inflammation of the Achilles tendon.
These were just several most common poor corrections that can lead to faulty technique and possible injuries. To conclude, bearing in my mind all of the above, teachers should use language carefully, use encouragement praise and positive feedback more frequently than negative criticism, gradually introduce self-directed tasks, show respect for children´s views and encourage a realistically positive view of their capabilities and potentials while implementing the proper technique. Attention must be given to issues of physical health and psychological issues of every enrolled student, in order to create autonomous reflective learners in accordance with the comprehension of the 21 st century.
REFERENCE LIST: Barrett, C. (1999) Aetiology and Rehabilitation of Dance Injuries – Understanding the Complete Picture. Physiotherapy in Sport, Volume 22, No. 1, pp. 11-15.
Buckroyd, J. (2000) The Student Dancer: Emotional Aspects of the Teaching and Learning of Dance. Dance Book Ltd. Carr, S. and Wyon, M. (2003) The Impact of Motivational Climate on Dance Students´ Achievement Goals, Trait, Anxiety and Perfectionism. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, Volume 7, No. 4, pp. 105-113. Desfor, F.G. (2003) Assessing Hypermobility in Dancers. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, Volume 7, No. 1, pp.17-23. Fontana, D. (1995) Psychology for Teachers. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Glasstone, R. (1999) Correcting Ballet Students. The Dancing Times, Vol. 90, No. 1069, str. 61 Howse, A.J.G. (1992) The Effects of Training on the Young Dancer. Dancing Times, Issue 10, str. 43-45. ____________(2005) Dance Technique & Injury Prevention. London: A&C Black Publishers Limited
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Giving Feedback and Correcting Ballet Students
Svebor Secak, MA
McCormack, M.C. (2000) A vertiginous Thrill. Dance Gazette, Issue 3 _______________ (2001) The Control of the Turnout. Dance Gazette, Issue 1 Phillips, C. (1998) Stability Training, Dance Gazette, Issue 2 _________ (1999) Core Stability in Crookshanks, D. (1999) Safe Dance III. A report on the occurrence of injury in the Australian professional dance population. Braddon, ACT: Australian Dance Council, str. 87-91
Rist, R. (2001) Training the mind. Focus on the Positive. The Dancing Times, Vol 92, No. 1094, pp. 65-67 Thomasen, E and Rist, R. (2005) Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers. Hampshire: Dance Books Ltd.
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