elle21

Yes, it's sad when egos and economics turn something ugly!

So your ex student must have ended up worse off for staging events so close to yours - a simply phone call, or just a little bit of research on her part, would have saved both of you from potentially losing out, it's sad really! It's also not fair on prospective "customers", who might want to attend both but can't afford to spend so much in such a short space of time, or give up that much time, etc. And it's a real shame for the dancer who is running the workshop. Everyone loses out! Let's hope your ex-student has learnt that lesson and got over it!

As for the ego element, I think there's nothing uglier than a bellydancer with a big head, it seeps through into the dance and looks awful. But as an event sponsor, it's not about being a prima donna, it's about being a business woman. And there's no room for "awww, but she didn't pick me to be in her gang, so I'm not gunna talk to her anymore". Ugh, grow up!

I actually think it's part of the role of the teacher to encourage their students to go to other events and let them know what's going on. What they do with that info is up to them. But it's good you don't withold your opinion when asked. It can be hard to choose what to go to and what to leave out, without a more experienced guide.

Yshka

I think this happens all over the place, more or less.

I've heard similar stories from teachers around here, who dismissed their students from there classes after they had started teaching for themselves, told students not to attend any workshops or classes by other teachers, and some even spreading false rumours about other teachers in the area.:eek: .

My teacher works in a similar way. She feels bad about the competition in the dance community and really works hard to set herself apart from all that, by creating a network of students and dancers who feel the same way and don't mind informing eachother about their workshops, venues, classes, working together, etc.. IMO this is wonderful and I admire her greatly for standing up and not giving in to competitive behavior around.

I feel competition in the dance community is totally useless. If a teacher act overtly territorial or possessive -though this might cause some conflicts in the local dance community involved at that time- eventually this will turn against him/her at some point (hopefully anyway) and only harm those teachers themselves.

Useless...

Aisha Azar

Dear Yshka,
I think there is a difference between healthy and unhealthy conpetition. Healthy competition is just one of the elements that keeps us on our toes, keeps us learning and keeps us wanting to make sure that we put on quality shows.
Unhealthy competition is when we put down other dancers and think it helps us to look better in some way. Or when we try to beat out the other guy by having events right before their's or when we are totally jealous of others and let it get the best of us. Or when we lie about our qualifications, which I think happens more often than we might be aware.
Competition can be a good tool as well as a detriment, if it is understood in terms of good business practices as opposed to ugly ones.
Regards,
A'isha

Yshka

Dear A'isha,

I think you are very right on this (I didn't refer to this yet, only to it's negative side).
There is ofcourse also the part where competition makes us better dancers. This is important for we will keep trying to be better dancers, keep learning and giving all the best that we can to fellow dancers, the public and -as teachers- to the students.

Now this type of competition is definitely allowed

Hadassah

I think this sort of stuff happens in most communities, but it doesn't make it nice or fair. I try honestly to say nice things about anyone that I can. I think nothing makes a teacher look more insecure and "little" than belittling others or undermining shows, workshops etc. Sometimes it's like "Bring it On" of bellydance, instead of cheerleading. It's dumb. I will take from whomever I want to take lessons from. My teacher has never told me I couldn't. She has her favorite teachers/dancers, for sure. But To deny the student a chance to grow? That's just bogus. If a teacher cannot embrace her protege's attempts at finding her potential, then maybe she should no longer mentor.

In a dance form where competition is always present, whether admitted or not, there are friendly, and unfriendly rules of engagement. And a mature person can see other dancer's strong points, as well as the areas in which they may be lacking. After all, we have room to grow, each and every one of us. And we need each other, because ME dance has always been a community. Our little niche in a world that doesn't understand what we love, and we must educate the public in a way that honors that rich heritage.

Suhad

So very true! I may not like the stylings of each and every dancer in my community but they may very well have something of value to offer -- for instance, a certain dancer may not have very strong overall styling but she has killer arms, or another dancer has really great hip movements. I'm not to the point where I have anything of real value to offer the community but I definitely try to give credit where credit is due, take good lessons wherever I can get them, and make sure I'm a good community member here in my little neck of the woods.

Aisha Azar

Dear Suhad,
You may feel that you have "nothing of real value" to offer the community yet, but students are one of the most valuable assets to the community. They are the main reason events exist at all. As has been said, belly dance is a niche market and we need the support of our students in order to survive, for the most part. Although I believe there are teachers in the community who are doing more harm than good in it as far as what they are offering, I never feel this way about students. Students are what keeps the blood pumping through the heart, so to speak, because without them, we are a very small community indeed. Students make us grow and thrive on many different levels.
Regards,
A'isha

Lydia dubai

what about this then and my attitude...i hade a student last year in class she was brazilian and came from a school in sao paulo,she wanted to perform she said ,and i told her,,ok let,s see what you can do and what i can do for you....but i did not found her good enough in fact far from that...so i told her in a nice way that she needed to be patient and study more before going out....what she did,but i did not feel she progressed a lot even i know that she was trying hard...she just did not have it....so i spend a lot of time to give her extra info and helped with choreo enz...beside her normal classes,Now i realy liked her as a person and was realy trying hard to get to the point wher she wanted to go..in this time i pushed to hard (i geuss) and when she was almost there,i even took her with me put her next to my on stage so she would learn faster....but when she was almost there she brook down,told me she can not take the pressure...i was completly shocked...i was under the impression that i was doing her a favour by beeing strickt and making her a good dancer ,not a cheapy one that just shows her body...and she told me on the same day ,that she found another teacher that could make her perform already and she was gonna go there...she said i dont need to be perfect its fine as it is....i told her ok sweety you know what is best for you,,,and she went...she came back after a few months almost crying and wanted to comeback to class the other teacher had a big argument with her and told her not to come back ....i said i never asked you to leave ,,,so please welcome,,,she came 1 class and she did not come back ...now she stopped all together...it did never happen to me that a student react like this and i was realy upset...i know i hade the best in mind ,but i think she just was thinking like some people are writing her ,,my teacher has a attitude....the problem is for me here there are so many cheap clubs and places i want the girls to be good before they go out,so it will able them to work in a good place...perhaps my attitude on that is not so good?? happy dancing lydia

Aniseteph

Seems to me you have a lovely attitude Lydia - you want the best for your students, you let them make their own decisions and welcome them back when it has all gone wrong. What more can you do? If she didn't feel she could continue it's a shame but it sounds like she is the one with the issues to resolve - what she wants to achieve, and finding a teacher who fits with that, if it's possible.

Oh, and thanks A'isha for the nice words about us students - I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside :o. Hold on while I write a cheque out to go to some more workshops (see, it works!)

TribalDancer

While I really appreciate the conversation that has flowered from this article, does no one else have a reaction to the tone of the article itself?! I found it to be a sad excuse for journalism--bascially someone sat down with one person, and let her vent about all the ways she was screwed over (from her perspective) by other dancers. No attempts to get the full story from the dancers who were NAMED OUTRIGHT in the article (nevermind that the implied purpose of the article could have been served without naming specific names and locations, don't you think?). The whole thing reeked to me of the writer being a friend of the interviewee, and giving her a chance to call out her "enemies" in an "article".

A real journalist would have done this one of many other ways, including interviewing ALL the parties involved and forming a story around the idea that we all have our own agendas and sometimes they are at odds. It could have addressed the right and wrong way to handle these conflicts of interest, as well.

If it was meant to be an illustration of how things can go awry, the names did not have to be named the way they were. And if the purpose was to call these people out and damage their public credibility based on your one-sided view of a situation, why not just make out a personal $hit list and post it everywhere you can, instead of trying to lamely disguise it as a legitimate interview/article?

Again, I know these things happen, and sometimes there really is a very clear right side and wrong side. However, MOST often it is a case of she said-she said, where each has their own reasons (legitimate or not) for making the choices they did. And unfortunately, most people don't get info from the source, instead relying on an elaborate adult game of "telephone", where the truth about what was said and done is taken out of context by a third party, and passed on down the line until it reaches the ears of the person it concerns--it almost never is what was originally said or intended, and it helps no one to engage in this kind of gossip.

This article, a thinly veiled personal attack, got my hackles up more than the subject matter, to be honest.