MEET LAURA

 

Laura was 13 years old and had been dancing for 9 years.  She always loved music and would dance around the house as a young toddler.  As grew up and her body developed, she didn’t have the skinny little ballerina body that so many in the dance world said was the standard.  But surely that wouldn’t matter for a 7 or eight year old who just loves to dance in pretty costumes?  Years went by and instead of growing in her enjoyment of dance and the arts she became more despondent.  We met Laura when she was 13.  Her grades were gradually slipping lower and lower.  She had no interest in her appearance and didn’t have many friends.  In a last ditch effort, knowing that she had always loved dance, her mother brought her to us. 

 

Well, at her first class, the teacher actually wondered if there wasn’t something wrong with Laura.  As she stood at the bar and began the basic exercises, she appeared to be someone who had a physical problem or muscular disease.  She grabbed the bar and struggled to bend her knees for the simple plie exercise.  She looked more like someone struggling for life.  We had been told she had had 9 years of dance so there must be some physical problem. 

 

At The Culture House, we teach dance technique in a very disciplined and structured way.  We don’t teach classes praising a student whether they are right or wrong just to build their self-esteem.  We believe self-esteem and confidence comes from accomplishing tasks that we give our best effort.  At the same time, we teach each student from their personal starting point and take them to their next level.  Comparing students to each other is defeating until a student has the confidence to compete at that level. 

 

As that initial class with Laura progressed her teacher, Mona, began correcting her.  She would take her arm and show her where it should go.  Mona would position her feet with her hands and show which muscles to use to accomplish this.  Quickly Laura would pick up the corrections and begin applying them.  As Mona questioned Laura’s mother, she discovered that in all those years of dancing, Laura had rarely if ever been corrected physically or been given much attention.  She didn’t have the popular body for dance and so was pretty much ignored.  She was also kept out of performing groups and not given much to do in the annual productions.  So, besides not growing in her skill, an overall depression had set in when it came to her looks, acceptability, and joy of dance. 

 

She became a passionate student at The Culture House.  Her sister even enrolled as well.  In a short time, her grades tangibly improved, and she even asked her Mother to take her shopping for clothes.  She lost some weight just from exercising properly and even got a fashionable hair cut.  The attention to fashion aside, these were a sign that she began to see her self in a very different light. 

 

After 2 years, she decided to give up dancing regularly and got more involved in other extra curricular activities.  But her two years at The Culture House came a crucial time when she could transform a potentially devastating pattern into a victory.  Her family still talks about The Culture House and promotes it to whomever they meet.  Yes, it’s a place where people dance, act, and play music, but mostly it’s a place where people grow.