- Sep 19, 2008
- 875
- 143
I got an email today from one of the parents of a new L7 that I coached at L4 & 5. It's pretty funny, and involves her work-around of the all too common hatred of dance on floor. She said it was ok to tell the story here, but sadly, I cannot include the video which was awesome. Long story, sorry!
Basically, her DD has always had issues with attitude and effort when it came to the dance portion of floor. Now that she's going into optional territory, the training wheels are off for real and the floor has been parentally declared a no-whine zone. She got an iPod for Christmas last year, and was happy with it until recently so she had something new to 'whine' about other than floor. Her parents didn't feel her pain (that part of the email was pretty lol). The whine-fest was brought on by a new coach who allows them to listen to music as they warm up, and for the elliptical portion of their conditioning. Some of the girls came in with a 'better' iPod, tech peer pressure set in.
Her parents used an interesting method of handling it. They listened to her current music, picked 25 very different songs, and gave her 3 months to explain them in her own words. What she thought the artist was trying to get across with the words chosen and how the music reinforces her interpretation. She had to print the lyrics she got off the internet and explain how they led to her interpretation, pick 3 feelings she associates with each song, and describe one real life situation that might have inspired the song. When I asked her if she thought that would be hard due to DD's age, she lol'd and asked if I've seen an episode of 'The Hills' or 'Gossip Girl' lately. I haven't, but point taken I suppose.
She did it, and her mom said she thought DD 'was deaf at first.' Her parents thought she was just throwing stuff out there, so thats when printing the lyrics became a req, and her interpretations started to make more sense and even surprise them. Afterwards she thought she was getting the new iPod right away, but she wasn't done! She's now on the part where she has to pick 25 songs with no lyrics. Her mission is to still find 3 feelings she associates with the song, and then to turn that feeling(s) into movement, aka the dreaded dance portion of gymnastics. I saw video of her and she looked awesome, she used the same choreography for 2 very different songs and got across the differences in feeling and mood quite well, down to facial expression. If she gets this 25 done by the beginning of December they're going to upgrade, and her current iPod will go to her little sister.
It was coincidence that this came up at the time she went to her yearly sports psych appointment. The plan was suggested by the doc as a way to improve and enhance her dance, make her work for it, and not waste her current iPod. Cheaper and much more to the point than actual dance lessons (which she has no time for), and there was no punishment for not doing it. She'd just keep her old iPod and have to be satisfied. Her dance has improved to the point her coaches notice it, and the floor whining has stopped.
One of the unexpected bonuses was her 'cleaning up' her playlist. Once she had to actually interpret songs, some of the more questionable ones she liked were branded as 'stupid' lol. She now has a playlist of lyric-less songs of a wider variety than just movie scores, and has taken the time to find out the stories behind the ones from ballet and theater. Her enjoyment of music has expanded from just 'cool' to include cultural, which her parents think is nice. They also hope now that she knows to accept gifts with grace, and appreciate what she works for more than freebies.
Anyway, long story but I thought it was pretty unique! I'm going to find the 3 songs in the video online and post them in an edit later.
Basically, her DD has always had issues with attitude and effort when it came to the dance portion of floor. Now that she's going into optional territory, the training wheels are off for real and the floor has been parentally declared a no-whine zone. She got an iPod for Christmas last year, and was happy with it until recently so she had something new to 'whine' about other than floor. Her parents didn't feel her pain (that part of the email was pretty lol). The whine-fest was brought on by a new coach who allows them to listen to music as they warm up, and for the elliptical portion of their conditioning. Some of the girls came in with a 'better' iPod, tech peer pressure set in.
Her parents used an interesting method of handling it. They listened to her current music, picked 25 very different songs, and gave her 3 months to explain them in her own words. What she thought the artist was trying to get across with the words chosen and how the music reinforces her interpretation. She had to print the lyrics she got off the internet and explain how they led to her interpretation, pick 3 feelings she associates with each song, and describe one real life situation that might have inspired the song. When I asked her if she thought that would be hard due to DD's age, she lol'd and asked if I've seen an episode of 'The Hills' or 'Gossip Girl' lately. I haven't, but point taken I suppose.
She did it, and her mom said she thought DD 'was deaf at first.' Her parents thought she was just throwing stuff out there, so thats when printing the lyrics became a req, and her interpretations started to make more sense and even surprise them. Afterwards she thought she was getting the new iPod right away, but she wasn't done! She's now on the part where she has to pick 25 songs with no lyrics. Her mission is to still find 3 feelings she associates with the song, and then to turn that feeling(s) into movement, aka the dreaded dance portion of gymnastics. I saw video of her and she looked awesome, she used the same choreography for 2 very different songs and got across the differences in feeling and mood quite well, down to facial expression. If she gets this 25 done by the beginning of December they're going to upgrade, and her current iPod will go to her little sister.
It was coincidence that this came up at the time she went to her yearly sports psych appointment. The plan was suggested by the doc as a way to improve and enhance her dance, make her work for it, and not waste her current iPod. Cheaper and much more to the point than actual dance lessons (which she has no time for), and there was no punishment for not doing it. She'd just keep her old iPod and have to be satisfied. Her dance has improved to the point her coaches notice it, and the floor whining has stopped.
One of the unexpected bonuses was her 'cleaning up' her playlist. Once she had to actually interpret songs, some of the more questionable ones she liked were branded as 'stupid' lol. She now has a playlist of lyric-less songs of a wider variety than just movie scores, and has taken the time to find out the stories behind the ones from ballet and theater. Her enjoyment of music has expanded from just 'cool' to include cultural, which her parents think is nice. They also hope now that she knows to accept gifts with grace, and appreciate what she works for more than freebies.
Anyway, long story but I thought it was pretty unique! I'm going to find the 3 songs in the video online and post them in an edit later.
Many great lessons achieved there... thanks for sharing 
