Parents Importance of dance

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The woman explained to me that it isn't advisable for a child her age to receive instruction from two different styles of coaching (referring to their tumble program - which is part of the combo class)...

basically, the only way that they will allow her to take classes is if we stop doing gymnastics.

You have got to be kidding me. I cannot believe the audacity of this studio and the misinformation they're trying to spread! "Two different styles of coaching?" One will be gymnastics, the other dance! They're apples and oranges! Do they also mean that if your daughter wanted to take up, say hip hop, and did it at another studio, they wouldn't allow it?

Makes no sense whatsoever. I can see Gym #2 laying down this law if you wanted DD to take gymnastics at 2 different places. But (y'all say it with me again): DANCE is not GYMNASTICS! As others have previously stated already, the former actually complements the latter quite nicely.

Gym #2 sounds either greedy (they want ALL your money, not just part of it) or woefully misinformed/miseducated. I totally sympathize with your situation. It sounds extremely frustrating!
 
Is dance a highly recommended addition to gymnastics training?
Is it totally necessary? <snip>

Any recommendations on what-to-do???

I think she's at a good age now to start dance, and I do feel that it could be an important part of her gymnastics. I'm just not really sure how to get her involved in dance at this point in time since it would involve frequenting another gym....

suggestions anyone?

IMHO while dance training is nice (especially ballet), it is neither "highly recommended" nor necessary, let alone "totally necessary."

My dd never took any formal dance classes, and for a while, it seemed as if she was at a disadvantage compared to girls who had ballet training. In reality, the fact that she started gymnastics early (at 5) meant that she really didn't have the coordination to be graceful at either dance or gymnastics. The good news is that by training to do gymnastics, she acquired all the dance skills she needed and caught up with the others in a few years.

Dd is also an actress/model and when she was 11 had a job that required her to be taught by famed choreographer Fatima Robinson. One of the producers, who was obviously impressed, asked my daughter:

"So, how long have you been dancing?"

She answered, "About 3 hours."

"No, I mean, how long have you studied dancing?"

"About 3 hours."

Despite the lack of formal training, she often performed with her high school dance club because her friends on the club asked her to perform with them, and now she is competing at the NCAA level.
 
I'm getting pretty frustrated with this whole thing to be honest.

I called the dance studio and waited for a call back. When they returned the call, they told me that they would be more than happy to extend an invitation to my dd to join their program - IF WE WOULD CONSIDER A CHANGE IN HER TRAINING ALTOGETHER.

??????? :eek: ???????

The woman explained to me that it isn't advisable for a child her age to receive instruction from two different styles of coaching (referring to their tumble program - which is part of the combo class)... she told me that they strongly recommend only doing one studio - not both.


Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet

While this might not make any sense to you (or me), you can be certain that it makes perfect sense to them.

This is something that you might run into again if you audition with another dance studio. It is one of the things that I've learned not to ever mention unless asked specifically. While it might be obvious that some girls have several activities...it's just one of those things that are best left alone.....it's kind of a 'don't ask, don't tell thing', atleast for us it is.
 
That sucks. It is completely ridiculous. They teach tumbling, your DD wants to do gymnastics. I can't see the comparison. I would look for something else for her to do. Did you talk to the owner? I would call the owner and see if they are of the same opinion. Might be an overzealous employee? Otherwise, if you have no other dance options, wait until she is old enough for a class without tumbling. It must be hard to be somewhere with so little choices for rec dance classes. Hugs to you. Frustrating situation.

I would also remind the owner that bad news travels faster than good and you will be sure to NOT recommend them to anyone asking for a dance studio.
 
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet

While this might not make any sense to you (or me), you can be certain that it makes perfect sense to them.

This is something that you might run into again if you audition with another dance studio. It is one of the things that I've learned not to ever mention unless asked specifically. While it might be obvious that some girls have several activities...it's just one of those things that are best left alone.....it's kind of a 'don't ask, don't tell thing', atleast for us it is.


Actually, didn't that come from a poem? I know I've read that somewhere...



Anyway, I think that this has gone over my head a bit...are you suggesting "don't ask, dont' tell" such that I shouldn't mention that she is taking gymnastics elsewhere? Or that I shouldn't mention that she is taking dance...??? or both??? or ...that I sign her up quietly? or shouldn't sign her up at all under the circumstances...


If it weren't for the fact that dd is 5 (new 5, just a few weeks ago turned 5) I can understand how "dont' ask don't tell" works...but, I'm not sure that I could convince my 5 yr old dd not to mention gymnastics or dance...just that how can a 5 yr old understand the sort of political aspect of all of this...
 
Yes, it's from a poem. I'm personally not able to lie and I would have a real problem telling a child to lie. All I'm saying is that if you walk into a dance studio don't say "Hi, we take gymnastics and we would like to also take dance" when all you need to say is "Hi, we'd like to take dance".

If you think it will cause a conflict and your not comfortable with it then you have to decide for yourself what you are comfortable with.

My DD is not in a dance class, she's in a professional dance program that feeds the City ballet so our situation might be different than yours, but I am familiar with what you said about being denied admittance so that is why I replied. We wanted our DD to take ballet so we decided to not mention the gymnastics (among other things) to them. We had to mention the ballet to our gymnastics HC because we often have scheduling conflicts due to classes, rehearsals and performances. They are not happy that she misses practice, but they have tolerated it so far.
 
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Ok, hi sheplaysinthechalk

I'm not on the run today and I'm sorry if I was a little short yesterday...but I've got tons of time today and can blather along aimlessly on this topic that I don't know much about:)

The thing is that there is no official handbook that says gymnastics is bad if want to take my dance class. Stern looking dance teaches don't excuse themselves to a back room where they sip diet coke and flip through the pages of Vanity Fair while you wait with patient anticipation thinking they are somewhere seriously considering the merits of your application and potential as a prima ballerina.

There do however seem to be some prejudices in regards to formally trained dance teachers when it comes to gymnastics. Not sure where it comes from, but it can be there. Maybe it has do do with body type, muscular development and flexibility differences between the two disciplines. Maybe it's scheduling conflicts or they just want to know that your daughter will focus solely on dance. Anyway, since I'm feeling a little silly today, here's a story I found on the web entitled:


Balancing Act #7: Gymnastics vs Ballet

Becca wants to take ballet lessons. If I'd known this was coming, I'd never have taught her to walk. Better crawling than doing ballet, that's my motto.

No man really, truly, deep down likes ballet. Even Barishnakow, as he flits around the stage like an overinflated blow up doll that's suddenly sprung a bunch of leaks, thinks to himself, "Man, I sure wish my mom had let me play football as a kid". Seriously, any guy who tells you he really likes ballet is trying to score brownie points with his date. That's right, his date. Ever see a guy go to the ballet alone? Of course not. Men by themselves tend to wander into Bruce Willis movies or go to bars and watch sports. Ballet simply isn't a possibility for an empty Saturday night.

It doesn't help that Becca is¢ not terribly graceful. That's really understating it. When Becca runs across the room, pictures fall off of walls. Plates rattle in the cupboards. The dog whimpers and hides under the coffee table. She's not an overly large child, but she moves like a 300 pound truckdriver.

My wife took ballet lessons as a child, and has been trying to show her some of the moves and positions. She's sadistic that way. Becca thinks she's really good at it. She'll say, "Daddy, would you like to see my ballet?" With a nasty look at my wife, I say "Sure." Notice- it's "Sure.", not "Sure!!!". I can fake it, but not well. Becca, usually dressed up in the leotards and tights she plays in, immediately runs to the center of the room. She does the first position, which apparently involves touching both big toes, both little toes, and both knees together at the same time. Then she falls over. Then she does the second position, which involves lifting your leg. Then she falls down. There are more positions, but she's usually gotten tired of them by this point and begins to "dance". This involves jumping up and down, waving her arms, and an occasional kick. Then, after her masterful 15 second performance, she bows, and it's over. We call it "The Dance of the Epileptic Weasel". I believe it's from the nutcracker.

Sometimes she decides to put on a "dance show". She'll dress up in her leotard, feather boa, and princess crown. She arranges all of her baby dolls in chairs. Sometimes she comes up with an elaborate backstory about how she's going to dancing school, and these are her kids, and I'm the grandpa and I've brought them here for her recital. She turns out most of the lights, turns on the music (Kid's Favorite Family Sing Alongs, by Tchaikovsky), then it's position 1, position 2, 15 seconds of waving, kicking dancing, and it's all over. She never mentions what happens afterwards in her story. She graduates from dance school and goes on to work in an office, I guess. Could be worse, at least she's not recreating Flashdance, right?

She wants lessons to improve this. I'm not sure ANYTHING can improve this.

I want her to take gymnastics. Gymnastics is far less boring than Ballet. You're probably thinking "Gymnastics? How is that better? Gymnastics still involves people in tights flitting around". There is a simple answer to that. Ninjas.

Ballet involves flitting around in tights. Gymnastics involves doing FLIPS and SOMMERSAULTS in tights. Ninjas do flips and sommersaults. Taking gymnastics brings my sweet little girl one step closer to being a lethal shadow assassin, and that's just plain cool. Doing a backflip is only a few small steps away from doing a backflip, flinging out a chinese throwing star in midair, and landing with swirling, deadly nunchuks. For this reason, gymnastics is far cooler than ballet. I wholeheartedly support gymnastics lessons.

But it's not really for me, is it? It's for her. So try as I might to resist the storm, it's probably going to be ballet. And no matter how much it hurts, I'll attend her recitals. I'll smile, and I'll clap, and when it's over, I'll carry her out on my shoulders and try to ignore the people who took cover under their chairs to avoid the walls that collapsed and windows that shattered during her performance.

GamerDad - Balancing Act #7: Gymnastics vs. Ballet

Also, here is a nice montage called: Ballet vs Gymnastics

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........maybe my response came across the wrong way.......

Honesty is one of the things that I really value in myself. I have a REAL peeve for dishonesty - I don't see the point in being dishonest, and wouldn't never consider asking a child to lie.

I now understand what you mean by don't ask don't tell...really, that's the way I approached it in the first place. The only reason gymnastics was mentioned is that when they would only consider her for the combo class because of her age. I just let them know that we aren't looking for any additional training in tumbling because dd is in the gym for plenty of gymnastics and tumbling. That's when they told me that we needed to switch entirely over to them.

I am confident that the outcome of all of this would have been way different if the dance studio wasn't only offering a combo class for kids kindergarten and under. My dd wasn't old enough to start kindergarten this year. And, with that said, she would have been required to take the combo class for 2 years...just something that we aren't looking for.
 
teamdad -

i think we must have been posting replies at the same time...;)

the Balancing Act story was FUNNY!!! I loved it.:D

I think I'll just wait and see if another opportunity for dance comes our way. Right now, it's not THAT big an issue. Maybe i'll recommend to dd that she put on dance recitals for her babies at home - then she can go to gym, backflip and throw one of those chinese stars and swing some chucks on the landing...maybe even all on a balance beam! :cool:
 

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