Constructing Criticism
Learning to use the power of positive reinforcement in the classroom
In David Kinsella’s A Beautiful Tragedy, a documentary about a 15- year-old studying at Russia’s famed Perm State Ballet School, teacher Lidiya Grigorievna Ulanova bellows at the young students, calling them insolent, stuffed dummies. “You idiots,” she shouts, as tears stream from the girls’ eyes. “You haven’t done it right once! Not once!”
Negative criticism can have a lasting impact on students, and most often, it isn’t even effective in terms of improving performance. “Beating up or demeaning dancers is not going to make them work harder,” says Bojan Spassoff, who, with his wife Stephanie Wolff Spassoff, directs The Rock School in Philadelphia. “It just turns out kids who can barely move because the ballet training is like a military regime.”
Ballet instructor Kristine Elliott, who teaches at Zohar Dance Studio in Palo Alto, California, believes that belittling and destructive comments can also lead to low self-esteem or body image issues. “It’s too easy for it to become a personal affront,” she explains. “Our body is the instrument, so it’s hard for any student to differentiate ‘My body isn’t doing exactly what I want it to do at the moment’ from ‘I’m really ugly and defective.’”
While every teacher wants to push his or her students to grow and move past boundaries, the trick is being able to challenge students while maintaining an encouraging atmosphere. Here, we talk with several educators who share how they provide constructive criticism in the classroom.
San Francisco Ballet School teacher Shannon Bresnahan views honesty as the key ingredient in helping students grow. “I get very passionately involved. If I see any little improvement or change that genuinely excites me, the students know it,” says Bresnahan, who is known to jump out of her chair when students perform a movement correctly. If something is done incorrectly, “I’ll say, ‘Nope. Love you, but that’s not it.’ I really expect my kids to concentrate, focus and work hard, but the dancers trust me because I’m very honest, but also very encouraging,” she says.
Elliott, who has taught everywhere from the townships of South Africa to Stanford University, where she is currently on faculty, uses a combination of patience and persistence when correcting students. “I really don’t mind saying the same thing a hundred times,” she admits. “‘That foot is sickled. It’s sickled in second. It’s sickled again.’ If you’re able to put that idea in their minds several times it can help, because people learn at different rates.” Students also learn differently, whether through visual, kinesthetic or spatial cues, so it’s crucial to employ multiple teaching techniques.
Elliot also emphasizes the importance of tailoring corrections based on individual ability, giving each student something to work on during class. “Even the least talented student can go from B to A, and it’s important for teachers, as well as for them, to see that they are improving,” she notes. Gauge your comments according to age and level, and think about the best method for reaching individual students, prior to giving a correction.
For Spassoff, helping students think of corrections as a process of analysis and evaluation removes the negative stigma. A simple comment, such as “that’s not turned out enough,” is not sufficient. Instead, teachers should offer details that lead the student in the right direction. “If a student isn’t getting something, you have to find different ways to approach it and keep going at it,” says Spassoff. “If it’s something technical, try and help them figure it out by talking about the kinesthetics, the alignment, coordination and strength. Those are the keys.”
Being specific about what you want helps students avoid misunderstandings and confusion from the get-go. “If it’s an energy thing, then say, ‘The step needs more attack; push off the feet; use the upper body,’ or, ‘You’re dancing too small—be more generous,’” offers Elliott.
Like George Balanchine, Bresnahan likens teaching to gardening. “You have to love the process, because it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual step by step, tiny little increments of understanding and improvement over time. You have to love to watch the students grow.”
For even the most patient of teachers, it’s common for a hasty word or comment to slip out from time to time. If this occurs, Spassoff recommends approaching the student to clear the air and put things back on track. “Teachers have lots of experience and we’re older, but we’re not perfect,” he says. “You can go back and say, ‘Perhaps I was a little too strong in my comments to you, but I care about what you’re doing.’ The key is a sense of love for the artform and caring for the student. That can include discipline, but it’s the kind of discipline that says, ‘We’re working together to accomplish something; let’s work this out so we can move forward.’ Moving forward is very important, but don’t go forward with misunderstandings.” DT
Mary Ellen Hunt writes about dance and the arts for the San Francisco Chronicle. A former dancer, now teacher, she has contributed to Dance Magazine, San Francisco Magazine and the Contra Costa Times.
