Correcting Classmates

If you work in close proximity to other dancers in class or rehearsal, it's tempting to provide your two cents when classmate is having an issue.  It's great to be helpful, but when you're a student, it's also important to remember your place.  In this post, I'll provide some guidelines to help you know when it's ok to speak up and when it's better to stay silent.

Note:  This post is geared toward student dancers attending class and participating in community dance productions.  While similar etiquette is helpful for professionals, companies have different social climates than schools, and this often leads to different preferred courses of action.

In class, it's always best to focus on your own dancing.  If you see another student make a mistake, don't say anything.  Let the teacher provide corrections.  If you correct other students, it can be seen as bossy, degrading to other students (as if you're saying you're better than them because you know what they did wrong), or rude to the teacher (as if you're saying you think you know more than the teacher).

There are two scenarios where it's ok to correct other students.  One is a specific exercise some teachers give where students break into pairs and "perform" combinations for each other (one student dancing, the other providing feedback).  In this situation, carefully watch your partner and give detailed feedback.  Try to note a couple of things your partner did well and a couple of things your partner could improve.  State all of your feedback in a specific manner, like, "Your toes were pointed very nicely, but you could think about turning out more on your working leg."  Don't say vague things like, "It was good," or "It was messy."  This will give your partner helpful feedback that doesn't feel insulting to receive.

The other situation (common in advanced dancers) is a close friendship where two or more dancers feel comfortable giving each other constructive criticism.  There should be an agreement (spoken or unspoken) that feedback will be kind and aimed at helping improve rather than tearing down.  One friend may say to another, "I saw your double pirouette-it looked like you were leaning to the left.  If you were more on your leg, I bet you could have done a triple."  If you're not good friends with someone, it's not in good taste to give them feedback, even if it's phrased nicely.  It can be construed as a passive-aggressive put-down or an assertion that your technique is better.

In rehearsal situations (when you are working on a piece for a recital, competition, or ballet), you should still focus on your own technique.  However, it is in everyone's best interest for all dancers in the piece to be on track and mistake-free.  In almost all situations, it's best to stay quiet if you see another dancer making an error.

When the group is just learning a piece, some dancers will pick up the steps quicker than others, and this is ok.  The teacher or rehearsal assistant will usually help those lagging behind.  Just as in the class situations above, it's rude to the person in charge if you start helping out too much.

If you've been working on a piece for a while and a dancer keeps on making mistakes, just do your part of the dance and try to ignore that person if you can.  Smoothly step around them if they're in your way, but don't say anything (and try not to give off any frustrated body language either).

If you really want to help out dancers who are having trouble with choreography, the best way is to invite the dancers in the piece (everyone, don't single out one person) to practice outside of scheduled rehearsal time.  Maybe you can all spend a few minutes after technique class or before rehearsal starts to go over the steps.  If a dancer is getting confused or messing up the steps, they are probably aware of it, embarrassed by it, and welcoming of additional time to practice.  During impromptu rehearsals like this, you can reinforce some concepts as you walk through choreography.  Check in with fellow dancers ("Everyone has their downstage leg forward, right?") to ensure everyone understands the choreography, but don't hound anyone about technique or call anyone out by name for messing up.

Overall, it's usually best to stay quiet when you have the opportunity to correct a classmate.  Corrections can be outright or subtly rude to the dancer you're correcting and to the instructor.  In the rare situation when it's ok to provide a correction, always be well-intentioned, specific, and kind in order for the other dancer to benefit from the constructive criticism.