“A prophet is nothing in their own country” is something they say in Germany. It means that a prophet who teaches his own pupils will be listened to the least. The prophet’s pupils will pay polite and respectful attention, but most of what is said will go in one ear and out the other. I like to call it “habitual hearing”, when somebody hears without listening, because it has been said so much already. However, when the prophet leaves to another country, their words become a sensation and the pupils will be stunned by their wisdom, even though they have heard it already a million times from their own prophets.
There are no right or wrong corrections, there is only a right or wrong way to hear them, process and apply them. There is no right or wrong teaching method, there is only a learning method that works for the individual student or dancer. Teachers have their work cut out for them, because they are the prophets in their own country. Very often, corrections are counterintuitive, make no sense and if they do, get lost in translation between the brain and the body. Feet don’t have ears.
Different teachers will say the same thing, make you do the same thing, correct the same weaknesses, but, because it is something else and different, these same things will also resonate differently and might just project you onto the next step on the ladder of progress.
Changing the environment and taking class somewhere else occasionally can be beneficial and enlightening for a few reasons:
- Your attention level is higher because everybody likes to make a good first impression.
- The studio is different, the people around you are different and, obviously, your teacher is different.
- You have to find a spot on the barre instead of just routinely taking your own, and you might just get there early to warm up a little more.
- Your whole state of mind is to absorb and learn instead of doing what you are used to.
I took some classes from David Howard in Zurich, Switzerland, on my summer breaks as a young dancer in my first company, and things I had struggled with became suddenly crystal clear. Of course, he was a spectacular teacher who had a way to make combinations which literally allowed nothing else than success, but it wasn’t just that. It was also the fact that I had no idea what was coming next, every step seemed to be a surprise, almost an adventure, in a city hundreds of miles away in a different country, living in a rented tent in a campground because I couldn’t afford a hotel. It was definitely not business as usual.
Taking a ballet class, in the ideal world, should always be an adventure. In and of itself, a ballet class is an adventure, but like with so many things, it’s all in your head. If things are there all the time without question, we lose the ability to recognize how truly unique, fulfilling and out of the ordinary they actually are.
There are no right or wrong corrections, there is only a right or wrong way to hear them, process and apply them.
Different teachers will say the same thing, make you do the same thing, correct the same weaknesses, but, because it is something else and different, these same things will also resonate differently and might just project you onto the next step on the ladder of progress.
Every student and dancer should take the opportunity to experience a different voice saying the same things. It is essential on the long journey of training. It is also essential to always remember who taught you until you were at a level to take a class somewhere else.
If a different teacher can help you understand and feel some things you have struggled with thus far, it is only because your regular teacher got you to a place where you are able to venture out, leave the nest and make that experience.
Another thing that can make a ballet class into an adventure is this:
No matter where you go, there is always somebody in the room who will be better than you or who you’d like to be. There is nothing shameful in that, in fact, admitting it to yourself and using it to your advantage is probably the smartest step to take. No successful dancer ever became successful without learning from another successful dancer by assimilation.
Observing and trying to replicate how that person is doing things will not just make every class a special event, it will also accelerate your progress. Eyes are sometimes smarter and faster than the brain. Learning by assimilation is in my opinion the best way to understand corrections, because every correction always applies to everyone, even when it is not directed at you specifically.
Observing others allows you to see what the teacher actually meant. It is a translation of sorts, of something abstract into something comprehensible. The first time I really understood and made my peace with double saut de basque, was by watching ice skating on TV and having a lightbulb moment.
If you think it’s awkward to zoom in on somebody in the room, trust me, there is probably somebody else who is zooming in on you too. Which is another thing that puts the adventure back in class. You might be helping another student or dancer to discover something because of your work. Ballet class can only be as good as you make it for yourself and by extension for everybody else in the room.
Taking class from different teachers and with different people around you, with different better people to observe, and with different people watching you and possibly learning from you, is one of the best ways to progress. It is a reminder of what class is supposed to be, what it should be and what it is.
If you let it.
Taking class from different teachers in different places reminds you of everything that you may have forgotten or taken too much for granted at your own studio or school or company. The adventure is always there, just waiting for you to recognize it, to seize it, and make the best of it.
