An all-too frequent sight, be it at once-a-week dance classes, competitions or even staged performances, is a parent who is more invested in dance than their offspring. Whilst wanting the child to achieve their best through dance is in no way a negative thing, doing so at the expense of enjoyment however will unfortunately not glean the best response as expected from stage parents.
As demonstrated on the popular TV series ‘Dance Moms’, here mothers of their dancing children morph into monsters, turning a hobby into something far from the meaning of the word. Despite the fact the young dancer may want to make their hobby their profession in the future, many would advocate it is the parent’s job to keep the child’s feet on the ground and add some perspective to their life in dance.
Stage mothers and fathers are in no way the norm for the dance experiences of children, but they are definitely a reality. Naturally, it is important for parents to want to encourage and develop any talent and enjoyment for the activity that they recognise in their child, yet it is often the parent – rather than the child – who loses focus of what dance, in all aspects of the word, is truly about.
With young dance students, it is important to give them the freedom to be children and discover their own talents and goals. By pushing them to do what the parent thinks they are capable of will quickly become a negative experience, rather than being patient and supportive in the efforts to polish their skills and provide them with positives. Encourage children to do their best at their own pace, win or lose, rather than demanding that they to perform to any perceived standard. Empower them to achieve their goals rather than living through them, being more motivated by their progress than the child themselves.