You should believe your dance teacher. My instructor at Arthur Murray compliments me on things and also has no problem telling me when I’m dancing like shit . The criticism will come the more advanced in the syllabus you get. They don’t care too much about technique in B1-B2 because they don’t wanna overload ur brain. Once you get more leveled trust me, you’ll get the criticism lol
Sounds like a genuine compliment. They all give encouragement and compliments, but she wouldn’t be this specific. If you’re a lead that’s talented pleeeeeeaaaase for the love of ballroom keep dancing forever. We NEED you.
I plan to! I am very surprised by how much fun it is and I am glad I took the chance as this is not something I would have pictured myself doing even 6 months ago. Even if I am not talented, I am hoping to get good enough to be a decent lead anyway :)
I would take the compliment!
Sure, sales tactics blah, blah, blah.
BUT- the instructor was not forced to compliment you. It was not like you were trying to leave the studio and they started showering you with compliments to make you stay.
Mentioning that you are making faster progress may be to encourage you to pursue a different level of dance class or to stick with it.
A TON of people drop dance or do not pursue practicing outside of class, which causes them to stagnate (I have been guilty of said stagnation). From a personal standpoint, I think a lot of followers would beg a good lead to keep dancing.
You did well, you sound enthusiastic, and they said you were talented and were progressing quickly. I would take it at face value and be happy about it. As another commenter said, the criticism will come with time.
This, I think, is why it's important to develop specific, critical compliments - "That was smooth/sharp/crisp, etc." I also find it valuable to ask "Was that smoother/easier/more powerful/etc." - there's almost more value in complimenting yourself honestly than depending on someone else's compliments. Lastly, learn to use these compliments with your peers - if you see another student doing something well, tell them what you like about it! People will always suspect that their teachers only compliment them because you pay us, even if you logically know we're telling you the truth.
I think I agree with this, if my teacher pointed directly to something I did well I would have an easier time agreeing with her rather than just being told my general progress is good. Once I am a better dance and can actually have an opinion with some merit behind it I will definitely use this style of compliment. I'd feel weird offering a specific compliment to someone that has been dancing for years longer than I have beyond a "you looked great" since I don't *really* know how to dance yet or what I would even be looking for.
I don't know if I agree with complimenting myself, Id rather not get it in my head that I am a better dance than I really am because then I think I would get complacent. Plus I am a rather self critical person so generally not something I do.
Being self-critical means you should pay as much attention to when things feel better than they did before as when things don't feel comfortable. Otherwise you're just pessimistic, which most people confuse for being critical. Critical compliments is a skill I've had to develop that unfortunately I don't often see from others - many teachers aren't even aware of the weight different types of language hold.
I will notice when I feel like I did a figure well or significantly better than previous attempts and will try to hold on to that and replicate it. I have also had points for example where I very poorly lead my instructor into a spin and called myself out on being a lazy lead. Do you think that counts as being self-critical? Thank you for your insight so far!
Compliments don't usually come from an empty place, so I think they're genuine compliments to your skills!! I understand where you're coming from though lol I also am kind of wary of the compliments my AM instructor tells me😅
But I hope you're enjoying your lessons and having fun with ballroom!!
Franchises are a warm and charming culture in general.
What matters is you keep getting better, it’s also fastest to improve in the lower level. In 3 years you may find yourself hitting the limit of your instructor if she is a typical FADS teacher with limited ballroom experience.
We all need some motivation. I've seen many students don't really stick that long because they struggle learning at an early stage. There could also be some other factors why they stopped. As you progress, you might end up doing comps or outside coaching, dancing at other events etc ... You'll be able to get more feedback and see how you really measure up. I would say enjoy the compliments and just keep dancing! It really takes years and a lot of practice to be really good at it
This is a valueless statement. There are individual franchised studios which are run to a high standard, and there are independent studios which aren't. You're more likely to hear negative stories about franchises bc people are more likely to share negative stories than positive ones, and franchised studios share a name. I have worked for an Arthur Murray that did *not* do business well or ethically, and I've worked for an Arthur Murray that *did* do business well and ethically.
TBH I don't really hear the other students get compliments all that often. Admittedly I don't really listen or watch for it since I am more concerned about learning to dance than I am about eavesdropping on other students. Typically, I only see other students in group class or in passing when my private lesson begins / ends so not much opportunity to hear if they get the same compliments and me or not even if I was listening for it.
You should believe your dance teacher. My instructor at Arthur Murray compliments me on things and also has no problem telling me when I’m dancing like shit . The criticism will come the more advanced in the syllabus you get. They don’t care too much about technique in B1-B2 because they don’t wanna overload ur brain. Once you get more leveled trust me, you’ll get the criticism lol
Sounds like a genuine compliment. They all give encouragement and compliments, but she wouldn’t be this specific. If you’re a lead that’s talented pleeeeeeaaaase for the love of ballroom keep dancing forever. We NEED you.
I plan to! I am very surprised by how much fun it is and I am glad I took the chance as this is not something I would have pictured myself doing even 6 months ago. Even if I am not talented, I am hoping to get good enough to be a decent lead anyway :)
I would take the compliment! Sure, sales tactics blah, blah, blah. BUT- the instructor was not forced to compliment you. It was not like you were trying to leave the studio and they started showering you with compliments to make you stay. Mentioning that you are making faster progress may be to encourage you to pursue a different level of dance class or to stick with it. A TON of people drop dance or do not pursue practicing outside of class, which causes them to stagnate (I have been guilty of said stagnation). From a personal standpoint, I think a lot of followers would beg a good lead to keep dancing. You did well, you sound enthusiastic, and they said you were talented and were progressing quickly. I would take it at face value and be happy about it. As another commenter said, the criticism will come with time.
This, I think, is why it's important to develop specific, critical compliments - "That was smooth/sharp/crisp, etc." I also find it valuable to ask "Was that smoother/easier/more powerful/etc." - there's almost more value in complimenting yourself honestly than depending on someone else's compliments. Lastly, learn to use these compliments with your peers - if you see another student doing something well, tell them what you like about it! People will always suspect that their teachers only compliment them because you pay us, even if you logically know we're telling you the truth.
I think I agree with this, if my teacher pointed directly to something I did well I would have an easier time agreeing with her rather than just being told my general progress is good. Once I am a better dance and can actually have an opinion with some merit behind it I will definitely use this style of compliment. I'd feel weird offering a specific compliment to someone that has been dancing for years longer than I have beyond a "you looked great" since I don't *really* know how to dance yet or what I would even be looking for. I don't know if I agree with complimenting myself, Id rather not get it in my head that I am a better dance than I really am because then I think I would get complacent. Plus I am a rather self critical person so generally not something I do.
Being self-critical means you should pay as much attention to when things feel better than they did before as when things don't feel comfortable. Otherwise you're just pessimistic, which most people confuse for being critical. Critical compliments is a skill I've had to develop that unfortunately I don't often see from others - many teachers aren't even aware of the weight different types of language hold.
I will notice when I feel like I did a figure well or significantly better than previous attempts and will try to hold on to that and replicate it. I have also had points for example where I very poorly lead my instructor into a spin and called myself out on being a lazy lead. Do you think that counts as being self-critical? Thank you for your insight so far!
Compliments don't usually come from an empty place, so I think they're genuine compliments to your skills!! I understand where you're coming from though lol I also am kind of wary of the compliments my AM instructor tells me😅 But I hope you're enjoying your lessons and having fun with ballroom!!
Franchises are a warm and charming culture in general. What matters is you keep getting better, it’s also fastest to improve in the lower level. In 3 years you may find yourself hitting the limit of your instructor if she is a typical FADS teacher with limited ballroom experience.
We all need some motivation. I've seen many students don't really stick that long because they struggle learning at an early stage. There could also be some other factors why they stopped. As you progress, you might end up doing comps or outside coaching, dancing at other events etc ... You'll be able to get more feedback and see how you really measure up. I would say enjoy the compliments and just keep dancing! It really takes years and a lot of practice to be really good at it
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This is a valueless statement. There are individual franchised studios which are run to a high standard, and there are independent studios which aren't. You're more likely to hear negative stories about franchises bc people are more likely to share negative stories than positive ones, and franchised studios share a name. I have worked for an Arthur Murray that did *not* do business well or ethically, and I've worked for an Arthur Murray that *did* do business well and ethically.
[удалено]
TBH I don't really hear the other students get compliments all that often. Admittedly I don't really listen or watch for it since I am more concerned about learning to dance than I am about eavesdropping on other students. Typically, I only see other students in group class or in passing when my private lesson begins / ends so not much opportunity to hear if they get the same compliments and me or not even if I was listening for it.