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Insults in Ballet! Things Ballet teachers have said! - Funny stories!
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- Опубликовано: 2 май 2023
- Hello Everyone,
This video is a little different! I am sharing some funny stories of things ballet teachers have said to me. Some of these things are actually pretty shocking and I do hope that the next generation are learning from it. I'd be keen to hear your thoughts on this top because although this has been given in a comical way, it's actually rather serious.
Let me know if you enjoyed this laid back video and I hope you enjoyed it!
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About Me
Hello everyone! my names Isabella.
I am the first British graduate of the Vaganova ballet academy in Saint Petersburg Russia. I was a soloist working with the Mikhailovsky Ballet and Eifman ballet.
Now I live in London as a full time coach
Here, on my channel I am sharing my passion with you all about the Vaganova technique amongst many other things related to ballet we all love.
It's a hard industry so I am here to help with my insights and knowledge to make it a little easier for you all, as well as to hopefully entertain you with my content.
Thank you for watching!
Not a teacher, but my own father who told me when I was about 7 years old and happily dancing around the living room: "you move and look like an elephant" I stopped moving and it took me decades to recover. Parents and caregivers, please be kind to your kids.
Maybe the lesson should have been to not let a stupid, idle comment haunt your self esteem. Unless you were readily treated thus.
@@l.alexandra5871 It’s only natural for a young child to be impacted by such a comment. The parent’s actions are the ones that need to be focused on, not the reaction of an impressionable 7 year old.
I am so sorry you had such an impact from that. Sadlyy people don't always think how their words will affect someone. I think you opening up like this though is part of your healing process and I thank you for sharing!
@@l.alexandra5871 I don't think a 7 year old has that kind of mental armour, especially to withstand a comment from someone so close as her father.
I am so sorry. I know how devastating that was for you.
my class was told in broken english by our russian teacher, "it's not bad it's very bad"
and for me in all of my giselle rehearsals i had not recieved any indication from her that it was improving and so i took matters into my own hands and asked, "Is it better?"
and she finally said, "yes it's better" and I let out the biggest sigh of relief ever
sounds accurate! 😅
@@balletwithisabella ikr
there is no better feeling of accomplishment and pride than when my teacher says "better" or "a bit better" or even "not bad"
At age ten I was told to work on my arabesque. I practised in readiness for the next lesson. When the teacher didn’t comment I asked her, after class, if I’d improved. She said nothing. The look of complete disdain on her face spoke volumes and I still see it fifty years later 😢
I wanted to do ballet,when I was 12 years old and was said,that Im too old. So I started with ballroom dancing just to be told by the teacher,that I will never learn to dance,because Im not gifted. So I started with MMA and ended up doing boxing for competion. And than I lost a fight to a girl,who used to do balet for more than 10 years before she started fighting and reminded me of my dream...so I had to grow 23 old to realise that it is never too late and started ballet. And I realised,that the teacher telling me that bullshit had no right to tell me such things. Im not going to be a pro (in ballet) but it makes me happy and nothing else matters to me.
Good for you …that teacher should be in jail
We where trying for the first time a new step, and the teacher said “ i don’t want to see any botch, if you’re gonna do it bad, don’t do it then”. And I remember thinking about how I am supposed to do it if they teach us with fear ?
A teacher told me after my first year exam that I made her feel dead inside with my smile 😂
😮 That’s because she WAS dead inside, and your smile was triggering her.
i teach now, and i really try to avoid the sort of unkind, hurtful, insulting comments that i heard teachers use when i was taking class. i really believe in a safe and positive learning environment and i feel it works better than intimidating, scaring or hurting students.
I only did ballet as an adult and our teacher was humorous without being mean, her comments were normally super funny to listen to and often became standing jokes among us. For example, "Girls, you look like you're chasing after the last bus" (when we kinda leaned forward too much while doing grand jetes) or "What's with this arm? Are you taking your temperature?" (when there was no space between your arm and the side, because in Russia you put the thermometer under your armpit) or "You're holding onto the barre for dear life, will you take it onto the stage with you?" or "You're supposed to jump, you know, not crawl" 😂 Ah, those were the days...
I trained in the 1970’s and mum always wanted to hear all about the evening’s classes. I told her how many “goods” I got and exactly what they were for and kept the (life-changing) insults in my diary. My teacher was a bully and only my classmates knew. I took up a career as a ballet teacher in order to heal my teenage self. Only counselling helped me let go of those painful years.
One that has stuck with me- "you look like a bunch of baby otters." I am still not quite sure what this meant!
I don‘t know either, but it sounds darn cute! 😍
Great spirit 🎉🎉🎉
My experience at the RB school. Firstly, my dream company was the Royal Ballet. I was accepted as an American which was an unprecedented thing. I was hugely unhappy by the way I was treated by the students who were all British or from Commonwealth countries. I was called “the Alien.” On the first day two weird things happened: the mistress of the school told me I’d be exempt from all scouting classes: point blank. It sort of ruined my plans because I thought if someone only saw me, they might override their rule. The second weird thing: I was supposed to be there from age 16-18 for two years. After finishing just the barre in my first class, my teacher Julia Farron and Elaine May (the other teacher) who was watching the class immediately decided to promote me to the senior level. This certainly didn’t go well with the other girls. I was shunned For my generation, I was on the tall side and not as thin as you, Isabella, but I was still Ballet thin.I remember adagio classes being a nightmare and the guys telling me I weighed a ton of bricks and why didn’t I lose weight. Nobody would partner me. My teachers were really nice to me. In technique class, unfortunately, I was often called on to demonstrate the “correct” way to do a step in front of my classmates. Sometimes Miss Farron would video me doing certain steps like fouettés or grand jeté en tournant. I was pleased, of course, but also humiliated. I really didn’t care for “character class” on Saturdays - they were dreadful for me as I never mastered the castanets. They also had a mandatory makeup class which I regularly missed. And every now and again I’d hear over the paging announcements “the Alien is to skip her technique class as auditions were being held.” In any event, living in London was the most amazing experience. I still miss it and I’d move back in a minute if I could. The RB school was just too frustrating. My teachers were always in my corner and worked very hard with me. One girl came up to me and said: “you’ve got all this talent but you don’t work hard.” I worked very hard. I just happened to not sweat. The hops on pointe in Giselle Act I will haunt me to my grave. I quite liked variations class. And the exams were fun because they were my only opportunity to showcase what I’d accomplished.
That sounds awful! You must have been so homesick and lonely. I’m not a dancer or elite at anything, so I attended regular high school, which was much, much gentler, although we did have a few jerk teachers, who enjoyed humiliating kids.
I cannot stand cliques, but I finally figured out how they worked when I was in my early 20s. A bunch of insecure people are so insecure that they form a close group, and then have the power to exclude others. It makes them feel good, or at least more confident. I discovered this because where I was working, there was a group of women who were ages 20 to 40, none of them were particularly cool or gorgeous (which is how high school cliques worked) or excellent at their work, and individually, a few of them were quite pleasant to me when I started working there. But When they were in a group, they would stick together, give everybody else the side-eye and make dumb comments. 🙄
Over several months when more younger people were being hired, I started to have a good friend group, but we invited everybody in.
So what I’m trying to say is the mean girls at RB School are the ones who are insecure, petty and obviously very jealous of you and I’m really sorry you had to go through that experience. 💐
That is terrible, if a partner in dancing told me,that Im too heavy,why dont I loose weight,I would probably punch him in his face and tell him,to work out more,because,he is not a man,but a piece of sh*t. Sorry for telling this,but I think,he would have deserved it. Who is he,to tell you this? (Im too sensitive about such things,as I grew up being body shamed by many people for the weirdest reasons you can imagine(being fat,having huge tights,being blond, being too skinny, having no boobs, being boyish) and I cant stand happening that to anybody.
I`m British but I`m not a dancer. I`m sorry about the way you were treated and bullied by the other students. I was bullied at school and it`s certainly not pleasant. I absolutely hated cliques but they exist in most places. People can be pathetic at times and I would never have lasted 5 minutes in Ballet. I`ve always admired ballet dancers for their strength and resilience and the fact that 99% of people would never put up with the BS that ballet dancers go through on a daily basis.
It all depends on how the ‘insult’ is said. I had a ballet teacher like that, he called me бестолковая and other things. Not only did he teach me ballet, he also instilled so much mental strength in me which has allowed me to get to grips with pretty much anything life throws at me.
@@nataliak8102 exactly, it all depends on the way how it is said and also the situation. There is a huge difference between humiliating a small child or young and sensitive teenage girl, and nicknaming and insulting somebody,who can handle it,or who gets stronger by that. The problem is,when those,who insult you dont expect,that you will fight back :D. And that you are the bad one,just because you deffended yourself. But you should always fight back (in most situation with words only),it doesnt matter if it is your dance partner or a teacher or a coach. Because if you let them to insult you,they will do it,till you will feel worthless.
My friend was told “beautiful girl! Ugly dancer!” (In a Russian accent of course) that teacher was fired. The meanest teacher I have now doesn’t insult us individually but these are some of the things she said yesterday “Eww that was bad!” “Im not gonna lie that was a hot mess” and “Okay that was terrible”
Crowling like a crab 😂 My Russian teacher also likes to come up with funny mental images like that which can sound shocking but also very helpful. I think if you associate a certain bad movement with an embarrassing picture, it really sticks. As you said, it's all a matter of balancing it out with praises (which are very scarce though in Russian culture...).
Would you please talk about favouritism in one of your videos?
Nah, “bestolkovaya” isn’t really offensive (if only mildly, ie it’s derogatory but not meant to actually hurt or humiliate). It means verbatim “one who wouldn’t learn/get/understand sth”. Which was why, after you’ve corrected the technique, you teacher would say “umnitsa”. “Useless” is much stronger and hurtful and, like, final (cannot be remedied), so not really a synonym.
Awww~I love your sense of humor and how you take it! your acting is top-notch👍👍
My top 2 goals are:
(1) getting better at remembering combinations
(2) improving speed (I find movements that require fast speed really hard like jete, frappes, also shimmy)
My favorite insult I got was that I looked like a Kmart shopper running for a blue light special when I did my ballet runs lol. It’s an American thing but it was funny yet insulting. There are many I could bring up. Good old NYCB training
My two goals right now are related to injury recovery and coming back from a very long ballet break: 1: improving upper body strength toward full-scope epaulement and port des bras, and increasing strength and flexibility for arabesque. I just subscribed and have become a member on the website as well. Finding your instruction and advice extremely helpful. Thank you so much!
It is great to have goals, well done! 💪 And glad you have found the website helpful, you're very welcome 😊
I keep going back to min 5:30 and play ты как краб, ты как краб... can't stop laughing, thank you so much 🤣🙏
hahahaha let's hope a GIF isn't made!!
@@balletwithisabella it would be a good one! 😁You've clearly have excellent acting skills 👏
Right now I'm focusing on strengthening my turn out, having the strength to shape my feet and the flexibility in my hyperextension! And I can already see a vast improvement because I have been given the cupid solo to perform in my ballet school's Spring Showcase! I just wanted to say thank you and that i always listen to your podcast after class as im doing my exercises!💖
Thanks for the goal setting advice! Mine are increasing the height of my arabesque and foot stability and flexibility
I hate how normalized this abuse is, that no one even calls it abuse. Even you said it's "part of the journey". I wish instructors would get disciplined or fired for insulting their students. I'm an instructor (not dance, obviously) and in no world would it be okay for me to call a student useless etc. These abusive dance teachers from a bygone era and culture must become a thing of the past instead of being tolerated and even appreciated.
Thank you for choosing this rather uncomfortable subject matter because it does need to be talked about.
I don’t know much about the ballet world, but I do know that many athletes who were treated horribly by their own coaches decide to treat their own athletes the same way when they have the chance. I do not think it’s an acceptable excuse to say “they don’t know any better“ because every single time one insults a student/dancer/athlete, one has made a decision to insult, meaning one had a choice to act in a different way. Every single time, one has seen the recipient of the insult wince, or look depressed, or even start to cry. Most people feel terrible when they have inadvertently hurt somebody’s feelings, but these coaches are doing it on purpose. They seem to enjoy it because otherwise, why would they keep doing it?
So I’m very glad that you choose not to behave like the teachers you have described. You are choosing to give honest, truthful, constructive criticism, which is absolutely essential for the dancer’s improvement. I am certain that you will not be bodyshaming your students, either. 👏👏👏💐💕
Thank you for the video!
I have no experience in ballet (just an interest), but I was involved in the horse world. Far too many cruel people in that community who, like you said, seem to genuinely enjoy being abusive. I've seen many little girls crying (and have been one), simply because someone who doesn't have actual coaching skills thinks screaming and insults is how you instruct. It's always great seeing people be truthful, but have positive constructive criticism that builds someone up instead of breaking them down.
@@divitiae That is perfectly said: “It’s always great seeing people be truthful, but have positive constructive criticism to build someone up instead of breaking them down.“ Yes!!
It may take more effort on the coach’s part to control their impatience, annoyance or frustration that the student isn’t doing whatever properly, but that effort is exactly what they need to make.
I had a rough time with a verbally abusive trainer at my first real adult job. The concepts of “gaslighting“ and “goalpost shifting“ did not exist at the time, but those were exactly the tactics she used constantly, in addition to personal insults. I vowed that if I ever became a trainer, I would never treat anybody that way. And I didn’t. But I did discover that it takes some effort to answer the constant bombardment of questions, all of which were perfectly reasonable. I had often stopped asking my trainer questions because I was afraid of getting yelled at again. And that might be one of the reasons that the sadistic coaches act intimidatingly. They may feel they need to cover up that they don’t know all the answers.
🤷♀
Чтобы был результат-нужен кнут и пряник. Хочешь быть примой-глотай слезы.
I’m a classical opera singer…sometimes you need to be told how it is, even tho it hurts. It what makes you great…or you quit and decide it’s not for you, and that’s good too. You’ll move on and find something else to give your hearts to.
Excellent Video THANKS. I enjoyed the goal setting tips at the beginning as well.
I am so amazed with your approach to Ballet... it is all about healing the wounds... Isabella you are awesome... stay the path... I so understand... sigh...
"Your pawpaw is like a milkshake" LMAO
I am trying to increase my turnout. Based on talks with my teachers, it's not a strength issue - I need to increase my passive range mainly. I am trying to do a variety of stretches every day (following your advice about holding stretches). The second is stamina for continuus releves on pointe. And I just try to do more and more every day.
This sounds great! if you need more help on my platform balletwithisabella.com let me know and I can guide you where to go and what to do to best suit your goals
I cannot imagine anyone insulting you … you’re such a stunning dancer❤
my two top goals: getting my weight under control, and healing my calf injury so that i can dance safely again.
I have my exams coming so my main goals are confidence for my variation and in pointe shoes; i work a lot on my back strenght and chin up to look confident and also have a strong core !
Goals? Tidying up prep for a pirouette.. getting the pitch right, feeling the core activate, strong structure on the relevee (no wet noodle arms) - trying to find that sensation things are in place, figuring out what sort of adjustments I need to make, joining dots with advice offered in class. Its tricky, real tricky... but past the hurdle of "I'm not ready to play with this just yet".
I started adult ballet at 39 with a former Bolshoi dancer and was in a class full of vocational teenagers. He thankfully ignored me for the first 6 months (aside from hissing at me when I was standing out of his carefully placed formation for centre). Then one day he pointed at me and went 'Rooooneeyyy!', said something in Russian to another male Russian teacher in the studio at the time and they both started laughing. I was a bit baffled until another adult told me after the class that he meant I looked like Wayne Rooney 🤣🤣As an adult I could take it and found it quite funny - we actually ended up getting along well. 😀But he said some very caustic things to some of his younger students at times though was a brilliant teacher.
I recently came across a video about how emotions are less intense in your second languages. It basically explains that since you attach more emotions towards your native language when you were still little, it’d be hard for you to express your feelings or accept criticisms in your native language because you experience more emotions towards them. Whereas since the second language is likely to be a language that you use less or have learned later on in life hearing it wouldn’t feel as “emotional” to you. I believe it explains how you don’t feel extremely insulted and traumatized by your Russian teachers, but those who had experienced insults by a teacher in their mother tongue would feel more intensely about them😅
My main objectif as a man dancer is to get more arched feet, so I put them under my sofa or bookcase and wait, I also use elastic band to flex and point. The progress are coming slowly but that’s already a good sign :)
My russian teacher (Vaganova graduate too) said to one of my classmates "you jump like a bubble!" meaning she was bouncing when landing. She was frightening, lovely and funny at the same time. We just knew that she was laughing herself under the serious face when delivering those comments! Hahaha!
Not this current month, but next month, I will be taking an adult beginning ballet class. My goal for that class is to just have fun, and use what I learn in that class towards my figure skating.
My back has been going out affecting my hip. My Chiropractor helps. I am working on allignment balance and flexibility.❤
The 'it's fine it looks good ' is for after performances or bad rehearsals, the honesty is for class 😂
you gotta have what it takes! 💪
Hi!
My top 2 goals at the moment are getting stronger abs (mostly for pirouettes) and better turnout. My end goal is to get more than 80 percent of the points in my exams in summer.
I'm still going to school, and I'm dancing as a hobby at not as a professional career. Therefore, I'm not quite able to focus on ballet as much as I wanted to because of homework. I only take 3 classes of 1 hour a week and try to work out every day or do ballet classes online to improve my technique. Do you have any tips on how to balance school and dance better without burning out? That would really help!!
Also, thank you so much for all your insights in your time at Vaganova! I really find those videos very interesting.
Best wishes from Germany 🪻🩰
I am with you all the way. My own teacher can be pretty mean/inappropriate, for sure... I do think that you misunderstood the comment about her pawpaw being like a milkshake. She meant that it was soft, like she couldn't see it flexing. Not that it was an effective means by which to convey that message, obviously!!
You’re so right words are so so powerful
My top 2 goals at the moment are pirouettes and better balance. Do you have any exercises for improving balance? I am really struggling with finding my balance quickly in the middle of routines. I love your channel❤️
i have been working on my turnout for several months and am still working on it, being a 'mature' dancer I do not have as much elasticity however, between my pilates instructor and my ballet teacher they have advised me on exercises to improve this and encouraged me by commenting on how much I have improved in so many other areas as a result of focussing on this one.
My other sources are your videos and one or two other youtuber videos for targetting specific areas to help with for example lifting your leg whilst maintaining turnout etc. So yes I can absolutely agree that focussing on one or two key areas can be really productive and help so much and in this case it has also led to my all round improvement.
As for what people say to you that can effect you I also agree that even in this day and age when we are so much more aware of the effect of words on others especially younger people/children I still hear people say things that I think are utterly diabolical even in public!!
I did have a ballet teacher once who said something which I didn't realise had effected me for years but it had and it wasn't really bad just a kind of throwaway comment. However, I am fairly sure it didn't necessarily alter my life to a great extent in the long term thankfully.
My 2 goals are to get en pointe and to improve my turnout while I'm dancing, not just standing. I'm 13 and still not en pointe because my ankle to my arch isn't a flat line. I'm stretching my feet and doing theraband exercises daily. For turnout, I'm focusing on always engaging the turnout muscles, even during fast movements that distract me. 💕💕
My 2 goals: improving arm strength & stamina
1. Turnout
2. Foot and Ankle Strength
Besides general comments to the whole class saying "you resemble cows"... I remember when I spoke to my teacher about wanting to try and audition for a conservatory. I had done ballet since I was 2 until I was about 7-8 and later on picked up at 13 again. After pretty much building my whole foundation in 2 years and I had fallen in love with ballet again, I told her I was thinking of pursuing professional ballet studies at 15-16 and she told me, with a very unfiltered disapproval or doubtful face, that I would have to join with the 12 year olds because of my level. Oh boy, that hurt and crushed any self confidence that I had possibly had built in my technique and physical form and I quit not long after that...
🦀🦀🦀 love your channel
Currently, I'm dealing with my dance partner and also teacher. Saying hurtful things. Ever since he hired this teacher, our partnership has changed. Not for the better. I have danced for 13yrs competing in National Dance a Rama's. I have worked with him as my teacher for 7 of these years. Ballet is Awesome!!! I started up again as an adult, a few years ago. My Professional Teacher is So Supportive and Kind. The exact opposite of my ballroom teacher. What I am struggling with the most is what to do to get my partnership back to where it was.
You say you just deal with insults and it's part of the journey. But this is verbal abuse. It shouldn't be acceptable in any industry, let alone one in which children are under huge pressure. 😢
I don’t think it’s something that should be acceptable now! But I’m saying I understood and could look at the situation pragmatically that what I walked into was that of an older generation and ways of speaking were of a certain time.
I don’t think it’s ok nor do I think teachers of this day and age go about things like that especially of my generation. However I knew what was going on so never took it too personally as I knew the driving force behind it was to try to get us to better even if not the most optimum way to go about it.
@@balletwithisabella You sound like you were a really mature and very mentally robust young dancer. Not everyone could hack the life you describe, so you very clearly love dance! 😅😍
My Russian teacher used to tell us we jumped like sick alligators or looked like cows among other things. A different Russian teacher wouldn’t use words but would just slap areas she thought were flabby while we would be doing barre. None of this I took to heart or put any weight in, but I did see it seriously affect other dancers who were already in fragile mental states.
I taught for over 30 years and if I only know one thing about ballet is that the teachers job is to bring out the best in each student … telling their future or destroying their soul is not in their job description .
More, please
Honesty is the best policy as you said. Dont let a dancer get away with imperfection but you dont have to be a mean old hag!
I am working on strength and turns 😊
I’ve had some harsh teachers, but honestly, I always thought their “insults” were pretty funny. My friends and I use to laugh so much after the fact. I always felt that they were out for my best interest, underneath it all. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You can tell when someone is being mean to be mean, or when it’s just blunt honesty AND they care.
My teacher told me my second position looked like a scarecrow 😂
you should do another one of this video with suvi
I bet their teachers were as harsh to them, so they are the same to their students.
Well I Amal ost 58 and at 17 a teacher took me aside and told me I’d never dance ….
Russians are blunt. And when it comes to training basically perfection, that can be stressful. I lived and worked in the Soviet Union. Yelling is across the board. Store clerks would scream at you. Old grannies would correct you. Part of that culture. Watch the black and white Viganova classes during the Soviet period. Girls in only underwear, socks and ballet shoes. The insults! Wow. Seems though things are improving.
Turnout and extensions
objectifying the body, tuning into the mechanics, can be quite useful sometimes. I am working on getting my upper back flat, healing my clipped wings
Then I wrote her a letter and told her the damage she did and I hoped she didn’t do that to others
In terms oh physic is stronger feet and ankle. More control over my turn out. Mentally I'd like to improve my ability to work through the pain
Watching with my daughter: she says flexibility and turnout!
My feet and 180 turnout, I have very natural turnout but i don’t have 180˚ so Im stretching my middle split and focusing on turnout in class. My feet are not the best and I have problem stretching them which is funny bc every other part of my body is flexible and I have a easy time stretching. But I’m trying to stretch my feet and strengthening them by using a book and setting my toes on and then sit on my feet, it really help and I do a lot of strengthening in class but I try doing some at home too.
Well I showed her ..because I did dance until I was 30 …
I'm usually ahead of incoming insults. Glissades are obviously Zombie steps. Hunch the non-leading shoulder, drag the foot around and mumble "BRAIIIIINNNNZZ". I'll sneak it in where possible.
But to be a little more serious cultivating the air of sang froid detachment can work wonders.
My bad - sometimes by ballet ettiquete lets me down and I introduced a foreign flexed foot in a ronde de jambe l'air. Immediately spotting the alien artifact [from a different class] the teacher went for the foot with a sharp tap.. now, if I was quick witted I might have just slooooowed it down... or whipped it past to avoid .. but on second thoughts the conseqences of a miss could have been more severe. Naughty, naughty Alex, LISTEN TO THE INSTRUCTIONS!
It's definitely an old school cultural thing. I've had a Russian singing teacher who was also very harsh and critical like that, and I quit and never went back to her. Mind you this was an adult beginner class that I was paying for. I literally thought to myself why was I paying to be scolded when this was supposed to be a fun hobby that I do in my free time?? Literally the dumbest thing. Honestly I think in 2024 there should be no tolerance for this. It's one thing giving constructive criticism and feedback in a tactful way, quite another insulting students, especially children, in their formative years. And there's so much research on how positive reinforcement works so much more effectively than negative, so why would anyone bother with this dinosaur, abusive way of teaching??
My Russian born teacher came up with the best insults starting at a very early age. He was scary to a little girl with his long dark hair, hollow eyes, and red stick. He never said anything pleasant. I thought he was terrific. The simpering pleasant smiling teachers who cow-towed to the parents by praising sickled feet and turned in tendus weren’t for me. (Welcome to the world of no licensing for ballet teachers. ) If you weren’t holding your arms properly he’d say they “look like wet noodles.” Just one example. But everything he said was immensely logical. Sadly, the way you knew you were doing well was if you were the recipient of criticism, or the biggest honor: to be chosen to start the grand allegro on diagonal or any one at a time diagonals…for pique turns or grande jetés. He eschewed reverence by adding sixteen grand battements and then preparation and pirouettes, four full counts on each side. He had some idiosyncrasies. No water whatsoever during class. No resin (rosin) ever. No excuses allowed. These are just little examples.
turnout/flexibility and strength/muscle building
I was never belittled but I’ve heard questionable comments from teachers.
However most recently I’ve witnessed something that is possibly even worse. Perhaps the teacher won’t give outright insults however they have zero patience for children. And become visibly angry.
They resort to manipulative behavior. Essentially they lead through fear. I can’t call this grooming per say but I would certainly call it toxic conditioning.
Also, classical ballet is such hard work and a highly competitive career (unless one is ok dancing corps forever), it’s absolutely not for wallflowers - kids better grow thick skin or, if unable, just leave, as not everyone is built, physically *and* psychologically, to face career in ballet. Company managers, critics and the audience will be ever so harsher in assessing, comparing, critiquing.
And, perhaps it’s a cultural thing, but I really cannot stand passive aggressive and always prefer things said point blank, directly and openly, incl insults 😂
Just please leave those insults and discouraging words to russians, they love it, it's their culture, they grew up in this BS and forward it proudly to next generations, they don't see anything destructive in such upbringing. Take only the finest from Vaganova to add to your very unique style
Haha don’t worry, my teacher was generally blunt but never cruel.
I am Russian and a professional musician/music teacher; both me and the Russians i know believe that insults and discouraging words is an appropriate behavior.
Unlike you I would not bluntly dehumanize an entire country consisting of 80 different nationalities and announce that they are all the same and being an as%%^ole is “their culture” just based on the behavior of a few people.
I met some incredibly rude, biased, and belligerent Brits; it doesn’t mean that the entire nation is like that just like it doesn’t mean that every German is a Nazi. Perhaps we can attempt seeing people as individuals even though it takes more mental effort?
Clearly the vigor and rigor of ballet are not for everyone. If dancers feel so vulnerable and lack the steely backbone that is required for the profession they need to look for a more touchy feely path of life. It is quite tiresome to hear the moaning and groaning of the generation who grew up with the incessant "good job" of their moms and the "nice try" trophies of their soccer leagues. For God's sake grow up -- it's for your own good. The competition is fierce as you know.
You can have kind, nurturing teachers that uplift their students and have those students succeed immensely. Stop pretending that cruelty is necessary for excellence when that’s been proven wrong time and time again.
I did enjoy that, thank you Isabella. Just a query. Everyone says that the Russian ballet 🩰 is the best . The training etc. do you think, perhaps, it’s because there is no coddling in the training area! I’m not meaning they should talk to students that way but they’re so strict it’s a different way totally than - others . Thank you .🩰🩰🙏🙏👵🇦🇺
when you live in russia, ballet seems to be the only source of dopamine, even with such training. I saw on youtube an interview on Claudia Dean channel with Maria Khoreva about their experiences in their schools, they are worlds apart. A ballerina in rissua is a mean to an end, just a tool for propaganda of their "great culture" (spoiler alert which is not)