Contemporary for an 8yo?

[Confuddled]

I've got a bit of a dilemma about next term's dancing for my 8yo daughter, and I wondered if anyone here would be able to give me a dancer's take on it? I will also talk to her teacher, but she's very busy and may not have much time to discuss it.

 

She's currently doing 3 hours of ballet a week (G1 and G2 classes, will do G1 at Xmas). Plus one mixed tap / modern class which is much too easy, but is a time we can do (the right level tap and modern is on a day I can't get her there). Her teacher has suggested adding in contemporary.

 

But I thought contemporary was more for older children? And also, that you needed to have done a fair amount of modern (which she hasn't, the easy tap and modern class is focusing on tap for an exam at Easter).

 

My daughter loves performing, so her priority is to be able to do more shows (the school only does them every few years, so this means auditions for youth ballets).

[Anna C]

You are correct, Contemporary needs a level of physical and emotional maturity. When my dd first started as a Central Associate, the Prep 1s (Year 7s) didn't even study Contemporary, they had what was called "Creative" dance which seemed to be Pre-Contemporary.

 

Modern or Jazz is a good add-on for an 8 year-old, if that is logistically possible.

[LinMM]

I would say contemporary is suitable for Plus 12yr olds so agree with Anna C

[Pixiewoo]

my DD is 11, and is starting contemporary in September. Her teacher says she is ready as she has done a lot of jazz, modern and commercial dance and it will suit her. Usually they start at 12.

[Lisa O`Brien]

Agree with others that in my opinion Contemporary Dance is really for older children. Unlike classical ballet,where you can get away with just learning the technicalities of it to a certain extent, with Contemporary Dance an essential part, for me anyway, is one's ability to "feel" the movements, grounded into the floor,etc. I didn't start Contemporary Dance until I was 16 and for the first term I just didn't get it at all or what was required of me. There's so much more to it than flexing your feet and turning in. Many moons ago Sheena Simon College in Manchester had a contemporary dance course for children but I think it was for 13 year olds and over. 

[PomPom_Featherbottom]

Yes Contemporary is usually reserved for the older dance student however I can't see the negatives in starting early. Some styles are quite powerful and require a good base ballet technique although others like Cunningham and Graham I'd say are beneficial. They may develop better posture and better use of the floor in your child, as well as gaining the desired strength and they are also structured like a ballet class so she can keep an eye on her progress.

The modern requirement is new to me, I personally wouldn't be concerned about it.

 

Try to find out what the Contemporary style is perhaps youtube a class and decide from there. I'm a thumbs up  

[annaliesey]

I think it's great for them to start young. Obviously they don't have the maturity of the feeling and expressions etc but they learn the movement and principles ready for the maturity to come along

 

My DD had done contemporary since age 8 and just enjoyed it like any other class

 

She's on CAT now and their dancers start age 10/11 from year 6 going into year 7

 

I don't know why there is this thing about people being older when there is so much they can learn and enjoy from a younger age.

 

If anything, they don't have the inhibitions when they are young and not embarrassed.

[Cara in NZ]

My DD started contemporary when she was nearly 12. I'm glad she didn't do it earlier – to me it is more about learning solid ballet technique before you start 'breaking the rules', so you are still protecting yourself from injury.

[Kate_N]

Why not try it, and see whether she enjoys it? I don't think there's anything technique-wise that would harm her, and understanding the groundedness, and freedom of contemporary dance styles would be a good thing. 

 

That is, unless what your daughter's teachers calls contemporary is also what is sometimes called "lyrical" - sort of mash-up of ballet & contemporary with a lot of tricks and not much dance philosophy or aesthetic. 

 

At my studio, run by a very experienced dance teacher, who's also highly trained in pedagogy, there are contemporary, ballroom, and street dance classes for children from the age of 6 or 7. Her philosophy is that children need to try lots of things to see what clicks for them.

[Confuddled]

That's all food for thought, thanks.

 

If it was a modern class at a more suitable level it would be a no-brainer, but I worry that this will add on yet another class which she will not want to give up, and she will end up doing more hours of dance than is right for her (or for the rest of the family, which is also a consideration). The other consideration is that what she really loves is performing, and the only opportunities for that (at her age) seem to be ballet, so I'm thinking that it makes sense to concentrate on that for the moment.

[LinMM]

I'm having a think about why I still think contemporary is more for Year 7 and above I could be wrong of course and am not a qualified dance teacher so would be writing from own inner experience.

[Cara in NZ]

I'm having a think about why I still think contemporary is more for Year 7 and above I could be wrong of course and am not a qualified dance teacher so would be writing from own inner experience.

 

I was thinking about it too, and after watching the contemporary section at a recent competition, I actually think it could be about the sort of music they use. A lot of it is quite 'dark', eg an 11-yr-old dancing to a song called 'Hanging Tree' and simulating putting a noose around her neck... so perhaps it depends on how age-appropriate the music is as well as the type of movement!

[Kate_N]

But that's competition/Eistedfodd stuff, which is unfortunately so far from the real art form in performance that it's sad the general public see it as representative of dance in any form.

 

Have a look at the work of Mark Morris, anything done by Nederlands Dans, Christopher Bruce, Rambert, Martha Graham, Pina Bausch, Bill Forsythe ... any of the great modern choroegraphers, really. THAT is contemporary dance. Not the "lyrical" competition stuff. 

[taxi4ballet]

'Hanging Tree' is quite popular at the moment I believe. It is from 'The Hunger Games' books and films. Agree that it is quite a dark subject for younger children though.

[sarahw]

Kate_N that's quite a sweeping comment about festivals!! Totally agree there are some negative /dodgy things seen at festivals but also lots of great things. It has taught my dd more about performance and communicating with an audience than anything else she has done!!

Edited July 18, 2016 by sarahw

[annaliesey]

I agree with your sweeping statement Kate_N but that's purely based on my personal experience of comps and festivals. I'm sure other experiences might be different and there probably is some great contemporary out there but unfortunately the style I've seen so far has been pretty much with a point scoring emphasis rather than purely with art in mind. It usually tends to lean towards lyrical or modern too.

 

I really enjoyed watching bbc's young dancer of the year last year with the contemporary contenders as it gave an insight into the choreography and movement.

 

My DD has also learned more about communicating with audience and performing from comps but I personally I think that's completely different to some of the contemporary development areas, things like working in parallel, use of breath, even eye line, etc .. In fact, she actually had to reverse some of the performance stuff she had learned from doing comps and go back to basics. That's the stuff she's really learned most valuably this year.

 

The last piece I watched that she was in was about caves so not doom and gloom but just quirky. I'd too like to see more of this than the dark and heavy stuff

[taximom]

I would also add in Richard Alston as a choreographer to explore. Some just amazing work that you are unlikely to see n the competitive circuit for the reasons Kate_N says which I agree with!! My dd has a contemporary dance degree from LCDS and hardly, if ever did anything similar to the dance circuit choreography. However, if this was what was wanted, it is possible that this is similar to the style taught at Trinity Laban.

 

Heather

Aka Taximom

[Kate_N]

Yes, fair cop - it is a sweeping statement!   But one which I'd argue is still mostly accurate. 

 

Competitions do give young students the opportunity to learn about performing to an audience, and can be valuable for learning stagecraft. But I think the demands of competitions as things in themselves, or on their own terms, are very different from theatrical concert dance (ballet or contemporary) in the industry. Even the competition ballet solo is quite an artificial thing, although there's a huge gain in learning the technique require for the standard solos (Kitri, named Fairies from Sleeping Beauty, and so on). 

 

That's why I think it's so very important for aspiring dancers to see as much dance as they can - to see the variety and creativity of our contemporary choreographers. 

[Dance*is*life]

Gosh, I always thought the terms modern dance and contemporary dance were interchangeable!  Our students go through the school changing modern teachers and thus slowly developing their skills as each teacher raises the technique and quality level.  Our senior class learnt a piece from Pina Bausch's Rite of Spring, so presumably very contemporary, but it takes years to build their strength and feeling for it.  I would presume that your teacher knows whether or not it would be age and developmentally appropriate for your daughter to start contemporary and possibly it may not be too different from what she has been learning.  Why don't you let her try and see if she likes it and see what the contemporary teacher thinks of her?  You're not signing a marriage contract! 

[Ellie]

Many moons ago we only started to learn contemporary (vocational school) when we were in the 6th form when we were considered to have the strength, technique and understanding needed. Nowadays I do think that contemporary dance (in its true form and technique) does get mixed up with lyrical and modern dance (both of which I like very much) I do not teach modern dance, but have observed ISTD modern syllabus classes (Grade 3 and up) where some basic contemporary techniques are introduced.

[sarahw]

I agree that too many festivals are not a good thing but as part of a balanced curriculum are valuable.

[Kate_N]

Gosh, I always thought the terms modern dance and contemporary dance were interchangeable!  

 

So did I. I thought that what we call 'contemporary' in the UK is called 'modern' in the US & Australia (other countries where I've lived & danced). 

 

Contemporary dance covers a lot of different styles & techniques: Graham, Horton, release technique, Cunningham, and so on. But the basic principles are common: working into the floor, working in parallel as well as turned out, a looser use of the back, torso, arms, a much lower centre of gravity, and very few distinctions between what men & women do.

 

There's a lot more theory to it, but learning the very specific combination of  freedom and control in contemporary wouldn't be a bad thing for a young dance student, I'd have thought. There's no need for an age-appropriate  basic contemporary class to introduce psychologically challenging themes or material. Crikey if my contemporary classes started to do that, you wouldn't see me for dust! I don't dance for psychotherapy! (although dance class has the side effect of improving my well-being  ).

[Cara in NZ]

My DD's contemporary solo was choreographed for her by a young man in his final year of full-time contemporary training, and is so appropriate for her – to an old Simon & Garfunkel song, it incorporates lots of new stuff for her (she only did ballet before this): floorwork, parallel, different uses of torso, turning 'off balance'... at competitions some adjudicators love it, and some don't. But it is often a welcome 'quirky' and 'lighter' break from the angsty stuff in the rest of her class.

[Kate_N]

It sounds just right - and great music. There's only so much angsty stuff any audience can take!