The Dance Teacher: The Ideal Case and Daily Reality

Abstract

The dance teacher is a central figure in the world of dance; the impact of the dance teacher on the career of a young dancer can be decisive. A dance teacher is more often than not described as authoritarian. The present study investigated the various dimensions of the dance teacher's behavior. To map the teacher's behavior, a dance-adapted version of the Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS; Chelladurai ev Saleh, 1980) was constructed as the Leadership Scale for Dance (LSD). The LSD was administered to both teachers and students of the dance department of the Amsterdam Theatre School. In addition, dance teachers were asked to rate daily class behaviors of the themselves as teachers, and dance students were asked to rate their current dance teacher. While the characteristics of the ideal teacher were very similar for both teachers and students, large differences appeared in the rating of daily class activities. Ratings of the teachers and dance classes are interpreted within the framework given by the LSD scales, that is, as indications of the behavior characteristics of the ideal dance teacher.

The Role of Social Support in Dance Talent Development

“…Pre-tertiary students attributed their development to inspiring teachers who gave affective support and encouragement, and immediate feedback (Garces-Bacsal et al, 2011). Conservatory students ( n = 157) described two salient qualities of the current daily teacher as “took interest in [student] as a dancer” (68.8% of students chose this out of 22 items) and “geared toward future profession” (68.2%; van Rossum, 2004, p. 44).…”

“…Besides van Rossum’s (2001) study, only two studies on talent development have been done with pre-professional students in national dance conservatories. Nieminen, Varstala, and Manninen (2001) investigated Finnish students’ goal orientations and purposes for dance study, and van Rossum (2004) examined the characteristics of ideal versus daily current dance teachers in the Netherlands. Hence, little is known about how exceptionally talented dance students develop through the three phases.…”

Work related cardiovascular load in professional dance teachers – a pilot study

“…The main task of a dance teacher is to teach a specific dance technique in combination with a musical and artistic understanding based on pedagogical and social competence [1,2]. That means in detail that, besides their role model function, they are responsible for the continuity and further development of dance techniques as well as the choreographic quality.…”

Using tagteach to improve the proficiency of dance movements

“…Many dancers are highly skilled in their areas of dance performance, but they are seldom trained to be effective dance teachers before having their own classes (Anderson, Risner, & Butterworth, 2013). Unfortunately, reports in the popular media suggest that many dance teachers use aversive training procedures that involve focusing the majority of feedback on what the students do wrong, rather than providing positive feedback for correct performance (Van Rossum, 2004). This approach constitutes a negative reinforcement contingency, in that children likely change their performance because doing so provides escape from or avoidance of adult disapproval following incorrect movements.…”