Pippa Cobbing Head of Faculty Development for Imperial Classical Ballet, Greek and National imperialballet@istd.org
Dance is for everyone Registered teacher, Sarah Wilkins gives her perspective on teaching her son, who has Achondroplasia, to dance
Left to right: Students of the Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet
outreach programmes at schools that are run by non-profit trusts. We have followed the progress of children throughout these schools with weekly ballet classes and observed its influence on their self-esteem, self-respect, confidence and respect for others. Talented, driven students from our outreach programmes are offered scholarships that include dance clothes, transport expenses to the dance studio, and all tuition fees, costumes and exam expenses. During our eight months of ongoing lockdown, we initially sent our students weekly recorded class videos. We soon realised that the pandemic was not going to end abruptly, and we quickly transitioned to Zoom classes. All three teachers now teach simultaneously to a full timetable on Zoom. As teachers, we have had a great time teaching our younger students, as it gives us a chance to perform and entertain them every week with our creative use of props from home! Without the opportunity of going on summer holiday this year, we had our preprimaries bring buckets, spades, sunhats, sunglasses and rubber rings to class for a ballet beach party. We have observed that our students’ relationship with ballet has become more poignant than before. It is a source of pride for us when students from outreach decide to make dance a part of their future. One of our outreach students is studying
contemporary dance at the Contemporary School of Hamburg, and another is fully employed with the foundation and studying to be an Imperial Classical Ballet teacher. It brings our work full circle as they will work with the next generation of Indian dancers. With dancers from a vast diversity of backgrounds, we find ourselves with an inclusive community of not just students, but families from across Bangalore who do not distinguish between social status but are united through their appreciation of ballet.
Our vision is to inspire students to dare to dream, imagine and aspire to be more than society dictates
Dance is for everyone and no one should be excluded whatever their disability. I am a mother and teacher of a young person who has Achondroplasia (dwarfism). My son started class, aged 3 and is still dancing today, now aged 30. Ben was always a lot smaller than his classmates but this never stopped him. He took Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing exams from Primary to Advanced 2 Tap (Distinction). We found ways of overcoming his problems by talking to him to find the best way of doing things. For example, abdominal exercises in Modern Theatre syllabi caused problems: due to short leg length and long spine he was unable to sit from a lying position, so we therefore had someone hold his feet. In Ballet, he could not reach the barre, so he held the back of a chair. These problems were easily overcome to enable him to spend many happy hours dancing with his friends and achieving. However, sadly this is not always the case. I have been told of a young girl who was told by a dance teacher that she could not take ballet classes as it would be “too hard for her”. A young man, who suffered from shin splints as a child was not allowed to wear cushioned jazz shoes and another young man was not able to “slightly” adapt a set dance and therefore the teacher said he could not take that exam. No child should be excluded and if there is a way to adapt the exercises, I strongly advise the teacher to “talk”. In my experience, the young person will come up with a way round their own personal problems. Talk to the Society, and together a way can be found to allow each person to reach their full potential, enjoy their time in dance classes and be treated equally.
Dance | Issue 491 59
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