Results and reading

Saturday 9th March 2013

Having had some excellent responses to my survey 'The mentality of students training in the Arts', it is proving very interesting to see the varied thoughts behind different people. Some seemed to have a rewarding and uplifting time during their training, where as others were much more negative which affected their performance and emotional state. 

It seems to be, as I thought would be the case, that those who were given praise and had a positive training experience, felt more confident and inspired. With the passion and determination to succeed, driving them each and every day. 
Receiving praise created the following feelings:

• "Good, it gave me more confidence and drive to keep up the good work"

• "Training was difficult, so especially on the harder days it gave me that extra little bit of confidence and boost. And made me want to strive even further to reach my goal

• "I'd feel encouraged, and will want to work harder so that I don't receive the compliment. It'd also make me self-assertive, which will push me to challenge difficult tasks and express myself more freely"

We can see a clear pattern that receiving praise allows us to gain confidence and gives us the boost to reach our goal. When hearing positive words and comments, we want to hear more... so our instincts tell us to do more of what caused these comments. This then creates the drive and constant motivation to push ourselves so that we can feel the buzz from praise as much as we can.

I found it particularly interesting how differently people took criticism on board. Some would just feel terrible from it where as others tried to see the constructive side to it. Of course, no one is perfect so we are all bound to receive criticism from time to time, but how we handle this is up to each individual.. whether we take it on the chin and turn it into a positive comment or we let it get to us and get us feeling down. The same applies for dealing with the strains of the profession. The sides to the training that are separate from the reasons why we are there, can cause emotional stresses as we struggle to deal with things that steer us away from our passion.

• "Whenever I get stressed, my eating habits deteriorate and this was the case during my training. I also took up smoking to ease the mental pressures. Neither of which were helpful in maintaining a peak level of performance fitness"

• "I feel that the mental health of a performer is equally, if not more important, than their physical state. If a dancer is not balanced mentally then I believe their whole outlook is skewed and this is likely to result in ill-health, injury, and the inability to cope."

"It depends on how the criticism is given. If it sounds spiteful and personal, I'd find it belittling and humiliating. It destructs my trust towards the teacher. When it is done in front of the whole class, it may be harassing. In a sarcastic tone, I may feel anger. On the other hand, if it is given in a positive or neutral tone, by a teacher who treats each student with respect, I would find the criticism helpful, and take note of it as 'a note'." 

I completely agree with this statement. As said previously, each individual will take criticism how they wish but it also depends on how it is given. For myself there were times where a comment would be given (for example, performing fouettes one by one and being told "you can't do them" with a swipe of the hand as if to say, 'please leave the stage, you're not good enough') .. such things were humiliating and made you feel so tiny and irrelevant. Had the teacher simply said "good try but they need improvement " and then given me corrections to make them better would have been much more beneficial and positive. If I were given criticism that only I could hear, it would be less embarrassing and would feel more personal as it were an individual correction just for me rather than a big dramatic 'song and dance' in front of the entire class.  

I am pleased to see that the majority believe that the mental state of a dancer is just as, if not more important than their physical state.
Without being mentally prepared for the profession and every day of training, we wouldn't be able to take on the day and cope with what we must put our bodies through.

I have done further reading about the mental strains and depression for dancers (which I personally saw in many during education). The following link is an intriguing read: 

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Depression+in+dancers%3A+nobody's+perfect--but+try+to+tell+that+to+an...-a0109947718

These quotes were particularly strong for me:

"Taking a positive approach in dance training can also help dancers manage their own perfectionistic tendencies and set more realistic goals." 

Being and feeling positive allows our overall lifestyle to be the same way. Looking at everything in a good way creates good results. If you go into something half-heartedly or without passion, you won't gain what you want from it which will then make you feel worse, causing emotions and physical performance to begin to spiral downwards.

"In some cases, psychotherapy is all that is needed, although the length of treatment may be more extensive for negative perfectionism."

This is how I also feel. If students and dancers had the option and opportunity to undergo therapy to help cope with the strains of the profession, there would be a stronger, more confident and happy environment to work within. Learning to deal with all that comes with training would allow us all to get more out of what we want.

Finally (for now), most of us didn't have the facilities/services within our educational places to have some one there to talk to. We often turn to friends (who are also undergoing the same strains) or family. Yes, we would get support from these but with friends, we would bounce off one another's feelings and family will always 'say the right thing' to make us feel better.. It is great that we have people to turn to, but more than often, we wouldn't actually get anything improved or resolved.