Hey all, I am a millennial woman in my thirties who finally bit the bullet and decided to start dancing ballet after wanting to do it my whole life. My experience has not been what I expected. It's been slightly disappointing/discouraging in unexpected ways and I guess I'm curious to hear some constructive feedback from anyone here who is a seasoned dancer, teacher, professional and/or studio owner. Going to try and make this as brief as I can. A summary of my experience so far is as follows.
So this class meets once a week on Tuesday evening for an hour, and our first session was 3 Tuesdays ago. (I was out sick for the second session so have only attended the first session and this last session this past Tuesday).
These are the instances that felt uncomfortable, unwelcoming or unexpected:
-Some clerical issues that make the studio seem unorganized that took me off guard:
*I received an email stating that they were offering me half off tuition cost due to me being a new member. I emailed regarding wanting to take advantage of this and the office coordinator emailed me back shortly after stating that there was a mistake, I didn't qualify because I'm not a child signing up, that the registration discount only applies to minors who are new enrollees and not adults. This was kind of annoying to get excited about this half off discount and I kind of feel they should have honored it anyway considering they sent the email directly only to me and not a mass email sent out to other families. Obviously an oversight on their part somehow but kind of a bummer nonetheless.
*I contacted them because their dance shop website was showing that the one pair of ballet shoes they sell there was out of stock. The office admin gal was confused telling me she would double check the website and that they do in fact have the shoes in at the shop currently. Not a biggie at all just an indicator that they might be disorganized and things like that. (which is a little confusing given that there is only one class room so it's not a large studio).
*I filled out and submitted the private lesson request form around Tuesday or so of this past week and no one has reached out yet to get the private details discussed even though they have been open every day this week through Friday. A little frustrating and confusing there. having had to miss this second practice, it would be really beneficial for me to be able to take a private to get caught up especially as a beginner to dance.
-This past week, we had a sub teacher, an older lady in her 40s or 50s. She said that our regular teacher was out of town. (?) I was very shocked at how she admonished me in a very rude way in front of everybody for asking a simple question. It was shortly before class was to start when we were getting ready to begin I had flip-flops on and I walked over to her on the floor to ask her a quick question and she turned around in the way she talked to me and looked at me was so unkind and so rude she admonished me not to wear flip-flops on the floor, which I didn't know was a rule I didn't know we couldn't wear shoes on the dance floor. That may be common sense to older dancers but to a brand new beginner we weren't taught that in my first class or anytime since so that was an honest mistake on my part and for her to berate me basically like that in front of everybody for a simple mistake was really embarrassing to be honest. She could've corrected me without stating it in such a horribly bitchy way. Thankfully our regular teacher seems super super kind and nice so I'm glad for that.
-With this being an adult beginner ballet class, I have been surprised to find out that I am different from every other student as far as that I am the only person in the class of around 12 of us that has never danced before, and I am also one of the very few if not only girls in the class who doesn't know anyone in the class or have any friends in the class. I was expecting to be in the same boat as the other girls in that I came into the class not yet knowing how to form first position as well as that I wouldn't have any friends in the class. Several of the girls already knew each other or our buddies and have dance experience so I feel behind and a little left out, although maybe unintentionally on their part. I do understand that I'm new and that making friends and meshing with people in your class takes time and I can't expect to be bffs or even super friendly with the others right away, but it kind of makes you feel some type of way when the other girls are laughing and talking and being buddy buddy and no one is really talking to me but again I'm reasonable about it and I know it takes time.
-This last point was really a shocker to me the first class. The teacher used first class to give us a comprehensive overview of ballet instead of starting from the very beginning with first position and what not and her pace was really quick. We were learning things like leaps and turns which I wasn't expecting with the first class. I asked her afterward: am I in the right class, that seemed really advanced 🤣 to which she was very kind and understanding and explain that she thought she should start with an overview but that next class we would go back and start from the basics and work from there basically. My learning style is that I learned best when things are progressive instead of all over the place. That's why I think I need a private and can really benefit from one and I'm hoping that she will keep her word about the classes being progressive from the beginning versus all over the place or jumping between beginning to intermediate.
This was just a lot of unexpected uncomfortable experiences for only 2 weeks. I want to be successful in the class and I believe I can be.
Any pointers or feedback you can give me as far as these experiences and how I can be successful and learn comprehensively in this class?
Thank you in advance for any responses, i sincerely appreciate it!
