CriticalDance Forum

I am on both sides of the fence on this one. I am a dancer/teacher and have a graduate degree. But the longer I go on in this world, I realize that a piece of a paper (ie diploma) does not necessarily an intelligent person make. <BR>And on "how to talk to a dancer". Same as talking to anyone else, ask them questions about their job, their life, lifestyle. I would have to say that, the typical (notice I said typical, folks, not everyone) ballet dancers live rather insular lives. They have to, the time demands are there. But in other ways they can be worldly. They get to travel a lot, many of them read voraciously (all those long bus and plane rides!), and if they are so motivated, have a curiosity and knowledge about such related fields as visual arts, psychology, music and stagecraft, all of which can help them in their dancing! <p>[This message has been edited by trina (edited December 26, 2001).]

Folks, if you go back and read what I wrote, you'll see that nowhere did I say that dancers are unintelligent; I said that many of them lack formal education. There's a difference.

Tom, some people are reading too much in between the lines. I've learned awhile ago that some people without formal credentials, like a degree, can be a little sensitive to that fact. We should give them a break.<P>Hmm... I vote that all professional ballet dancers be awarded initials to append to the end of their names, like GrBD, for Graduated Ballet Dancer, after they graduate from a professional ballet school and a PrBD, for Professional Ballet Dancer, after ten years of qualified professional dancing experience.<P>Somehow, people (no matter what the education) tend to give too much stock to those darn initials. I've begun to drop all of mine, unless I absolutely need them for professional liability reasons. <p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited December 26, 2001).]

Oh, er Tom. I wasnt' addressing my comments specifically to your post, but to the general topic at hand. Which I guess actually is "a particular way to talk to a dancer". Oy, we've wandered a bit far afield on this one, haven't we? How did we get onto "education"? Oh dearrrrrrrr.I thought Azlan's comments above were very pertinent, actually, to this topic. I dont' know what I could add. Giving honest, but constructive comments to dancers post-performance, I thought was really a good suggestion. As a dancer and choreographer, we LOVE to get "specific" feedback. Particular moments or steps or "highlights" are always apprectiated. So many times audience members will say "I liked it" or "it was nice", which while certainly complimentary, does not really offer info. for future improvments.<p>[This message has been edited by trina (edited December 26, 2001).]

Azlan,<P>Thanks for your step-by-step advice. As I said, I usually try to find common thread with the audience on something other than dance. But to talk about dance with patrons would be wonderful, and I think you've illuminated some things to try.

Speaking of dancers intelligence,etc.,did anyone see the Sunday morning program ?Lauren Anderson(HB)was interviewed.<BR> Not only is she a prima ballerina,but a sports commentator(spell).One of the Houston stations wanted to hire someone whom they'd assume didnt know ANYTHING about football;they thought that Lauren Anderson,a ballerina afterall,would be a perfect foil.WELL the joke was on them!<BR> With an 85% accuracy in picking out winning teams ,she is now a regular on the sports show.<BR> She also has a wonderful,wild sense of humor from what I saw.She did a stunt w/ a dance partner where he (purposely) didnt catch her in time, and she slid across the stage floor;she also does a really mean Tina Turner impersonation(the other dancers were really getting into it too)!<P>[This message has been edited by angela (edited December 31, 2001).]<p>[This message has been edited by angela (edited December 31, 2001).]

Perhaps it is primarily a problem with choice - that many dancers choose not to look beyond the realm of dance for their realm of knowledge or interests. <P>To someone coming from a different background, this topic may not always hold enough interest to generate long-term conversations.<P>When faced with those situations, one can always fall back on the sage advice of author Lisa Kirk:<P>"A gossip is one who talks to you about others; a bore is one who talks to you about himself; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself."

I know this doesn't directly relate to the topic, but it's another angle...<P>There's lots of people talking about the majority of dancers being "uneducated," which leads me to wonder can you make it professionally if you go through college and get "educated"?

Usually a dancer is too old to get a job in ballet if they go all the way thru college before getting a job. (Now, all of you out there, please notice I said USUALLY before you all jump down my throat.)<P>Most modern dancers have a college degree in it, but that doesn't always make them better conversationalists. <P>There are also dancers who go to college while they are dancing (see the coverage on the LEAP program).