Not suitable for partnering?

[kellyisthebestintheworld]

yay I can post here now because I'm 17!! here's my dilemma..

 

I talked to my ballet teacher at the end of June when classes ended about partnering and why I wasn't in it last year, and how I could get into it this year. I was confused because she told my dad I had the best technique in my class but I wasn't in partnering and a lot of the girls with not so great technique were doing partnering....

 

she told me a few reasons...

1) none of the boys we have match my body shape. which I thought was weird but I guess it makes sense that the partners match. she told me examples of a few of my friends in partnering, like how both of them were tall and skinny or how this other group both had broad shoulders. I can't fix that at all....so I don't know what to do with that...

 

2) in partnering you have to be confident and you have to not care what other people think of you. I kind of am really conscious of what people think of me and how I look and stuff... she said that I have to be more out going and comfy with my dancing. I got a lot better at an SI this year and I feel like my dancing is better. do you think she'd notice this?

 

3)partners have to have an "I don't care" attitude. like "I don't care if I'm nervous, I'm going to do this anyway"

 

4) you can't have any doubts at all about anything like jumps or stuff because doubts lead to injuries

 

5) you have to be able to bring a character onto the stage

 

so how in the world can I meet these requirements? I thought it was about weight and technique, both of which are fine for me. she didn't tell me how to fix stuff, just that those were the things she looked for when choosing girls for partnering. some don't even make sense to me...can anyone help?

[Mel Johnson]

1) none of the boys we have match my body shape. which I thought was weird but I guess it makes sense that the partners match. she told me examples of a few of my friends in partnering, like how both of them were tall and skinny or how this other group both had broad shoulders. I can't fix that at all....so I don't know what to do with that...

 

This sounds like double-talk.

 

2) in partnering you have to be confident and you have to not care what other people think of you. I kind of am really conscious of what people think of me and how I look and stuff... she said that I have to be more out going and comfy with my dancing. I got a lot better at an SI this year and I feel like my dancing is better. do you think she'd notice this?

 

This is why you take partnering classes, to be able to build confidence while working with a partner.

 

3)partners have to have an "I don't care" attitude. like "I don't care if I'm nervous, I'm going to do this anyway"

 

More double-talk.

 

4) you can't have any doubts at all about anything like jumps or stuff because doubts lead to injuries

 

True, this is why you take partnering classes, to build confidence in doing "jumps or stuff" with a partner.

 

5) you have to be able to bring a character onto the stage

 

This is a non-starter. This is class, not stage.

 

so how in the world can I meet these requirements? I thought it was about weight and technique, both of which are fine for me. she didn't tell me how to fix stuff, just that those were the things she looked for when choosing girls for partnering. some don't even make sense to me...can anyone help?

 

You need to get down to brass tacks with your teacher, and get her to tell you what you specifically have to do in order to join the partnering class. She's telling you a bunch of what sound like half-truths, probably trying to be diplomatic about something.

[kellyisthebestintheworld]

thanks Mr. Johnson, I'll try to talk to her when classes start again.