Dance Magazine: Jealousy and the dance competition world go hand in hand—dancers from one studio are pitted against those from another as they strive for the same awards and recognition, creating the perfect conditions for envy to flourish. But sometimes, jealousy strikes among dancers from the same studio or team.
4 comments:
As a dancer, jealousy is almost impossible to avoid. Constant auditioning creates competition between peers and friends, which can lead to a toxic environment. I think eliminating jealousy altogether is unrealistic, so we have to learn how to manage it. I like the way Tessa Russell phrased it: “creating a culture that resists the temptation of jealousy.” Group routines are definitely a way to feature everyone and reduce jealousy. Especially when everyone can get center time where they are the focus of the choreography. In order to create a healthy environment, it's important to keep a constant dialogue going about what the purpose of the environment is, and despite competition being inevitable when it comes to auditions. Dr. Leigh Skvarla is correct that it's crucial to remember that jealousy is a normal human emotion and it’s not something that can be avoided altogether. However, there are ways to keep it under control and foster a healthy dance environment.
This is such an absolute necessary article to read and create. As a person who has been apart of the dance community from age 3- 16 jealousy is very common and noticeable within the dance world. Thus, I think this article is great not only for educators wishing to create a welcoming and safe environment, but for students as well. It is important that we do not let jealousy consume us and become the sole reason as to why we want to be better or why we do not like someone. To be jealous of others is a major setback to one's growth because of the nonstop comparison, rather than focusing on self-growth. This article translates well to spaces outside of a dance studio as well and the tips provided can be utilized within the school of drama as well. This builds character and bonds within our community as well as acknowledging and appreciating each others talents.
This article is a really helpful piece not only when viewing the art of dance and how dancers perceive each other, but also in the world of design, and how designers and artists often compare their work with others; essentially switching the “studio” in this article into the physical studio freshman design and production majors share. One thing this article touches on that I really agree with is that you have to normalize and accept the negative feelings you are experiencing; it is okay to see that you have not produced your best work, and it is especially okay to recognize the talents of the people you work with and aspire to do as well as they have. Where the line needs to be drawn is when you begin to actively compare your work to theirs and try and make yourself feel worse about the job you did because you do not have the same talents as other people. This is especially true in Basic Design, where we are all given projects with a range of different expertise: you are not going to be perfect at everything put in front of you, and that is okay. It means you are growing as an artist and experiencing different styles and mediums, and not everyone will be for you, and that is completely okay. You are allowed to feel like you have room to improve, because that is what art is all about.
I am both a huge fan of Dance Moms, and a former competitive dancer. So this article was definitely relevant to me. I was very refreshed by Skvarla’s comment that these particular feelings should be addressed and embraced - I never felt like that was an expectation in my experience. In my opinion, there’s also an incredibly different dynamic within teams of different ages, and that applies respectively to jealousy and competitiveness. Again, what makes Dance Moms so appealing is that the girls themselves are incredibly sweet, loving, and supportive of each other — it’s the moms and Abby who fight and explicitly identify jealousy. I think as dancers get older and have more awareness and control over their emotions, it becomes more of a case-by-case. But yes, it all starts with the environment. If there’s a dancer who doesn’t have a supportive or healthy mindset, if they’re in a studio that really encourages positive thinking, it will be difficult for said dancer to sustain that behavior. I am pretty optimistic about this — I think dancers are inclined to support each other. From what I’ve seen, dancing is so cooperative that it becomes difficult to sustain that friction.
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