Education logo

Is the Dance Studio Safe?

The Detrimental Results of Abusive Pedagogical Practices in the Dance Studio

By Jacquelyn MaloneyPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
Like
Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels

Today’s media showcases countless examples of teaching and mentoring practices that normalize abusive behaviors toward children. Teachers, who should be mentoring and nurturing a child’s creative growth, are using tactics to demean them, which can include name-calling and public humiliation. While these tactics successfully shock and intrigue viewers, bringing them back to the television screen each week, they also lead to many people proclaiming how repulsive these teaching practices are. So, why are so many parents continuing to send their children to dance class?

Students can learn significant lessons from studying the performing arts, far beyond the cute choreography and flashy costumes. These include a strong work ethic, discipline, effective communication skills, and a developed kinesthetic understanding of the body. The lessons learned through time spent in a dance studio apply to all parts of society and will remain with the student for the rest of their life. The benefits of dance class are more abundant than they appear. However, when this learning environment becomes a place where children are belittled, humiliated, and emotionally abused, the student’s self-confidence and self-esteem are manipulated, negatively impacting their mental well-being, and stunting their education.

The adverse impact that emotional abuse and neglect have on young people is well documented. When students are spending multiple hours a day, five days a week in a dance studio, these effects can become magnified. This extensive amount of time, up to twenty-five hours, spent in an unhealthy environment is not conducive for learning and is actually negatively impacting the child, where it should be fostering a positive attitude and a commitment to creativity.

There is an important difference between a strict dance teacher and an abusive one, and students are often too young and impressionable to understand the difference. Pushing students to perform to the best of their abilities is effective and necessary in training dancers for a career in the industry, and it expands the child’s idea of their own limitations. However, many times, this goes too far, humiliating the student, causing lasting damage.

Abusive dance teachers yell at their students, call them names, and place them in situations they are mentally and even physically uncomfortable in, all of which are clearly detrimental, however, it continues to be allowed to happen. This abuse of power between teacher and dancer can lead to physical harm due to dance being a somatic art form. There are reports of students being forced into stretches that damage their developing joints and ligaments, leading to lasting injury. The power imbalance between the dance teacher and the student is too large for the responsibility to lie on the minor who is sent to dance class being told to, “work hard and follow the rules.”

What can be done to fix this problem? A certain amount of training is required for any teacher to work in the public school system, or for a coach to work with young athletes. However, in many dance studios, eighteen-year-olds with no external education come in and get a job as a dance instructor. They reiterate information, whether it is correct or incorrect, that they learned through their dance instructors, creating a cycle that is not studied enough by others to be broken. Often, these young adults studied under abusive and inadequate pedagogical tactics themselves, so they are unable to understand the dynamic they are creating in the classroom. The National Dance Education Organization, along with other companies, offers programs in certification for dance educators. However, these programs are often too expensive and time-consuming. With most studios not requiring these certifications when hiring, the presence of them is rare in dance schools.

The cycle of unhealthy teaching practices will continue until people move to action. Dance studios need to take control of the environment they are fostering. Holding teachers to a higher standard, and requiring certificates in pedagogical practices, will ensure all students have the same standard of dance education. Requiring these certificates will ensure a safe and engaging educational environment, which is vital to the mental, emotional, and physical safety of young people.

student
Like

About the Creator

Jacquelyn Maloney

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.