Does your teacher's emotional level on stage affect you?

[dlgodud]

I sometimes have a problem with adapting myself in a situation that my teacher's emotional level is low. I find out that I have some kind of pattern when the teacher is in a good mood I dance better, but if he is not in a good mood I do not dance well.

Does this happen to you as well? Or I am too sensitive of doing so. If you have the same experience, would you share with me?

 

[Bella]

You're not being sensitive at all. I think it's human nature to be affected by emotions of others. The way I look it now, good mood or bad mood - I will take as much from my lessons as possible.

Sometimes, instead of dwelling on how the emotions of a teacher is affecting you, you have to learn to let those emotions not affect you.... most importantly, not affect your dancing.

 

[etp777]

I'd say that's natural. You may be student and teacher, but it's also still a partnership, so it's only natural that their mood would affect you too.

 

[AndaBien]

You may want to think about your lesson goals. If you want to improve your dancing, perhaps you can ignore the mood of your teacher. If you want to satisfy your teacher, you'll be affected by his/her mood.

 

[elisedance]

Its fine - as long as your teacher is not so much in the negative that it starts to affect your lessons or your enjoyment of them. If so you may want to look around a bit....

Energy absorbing people are everywhere - I know as I've spent much of a lifetime trying to such people happy. Personal fault.... My current teacher is very upbeat but, as we all do, has his occasional moment. Those days I try to channel the lesson onto something new and fun for us both. The great thing about ballroom is that its hard to think of your problems while you are doing it. Check... the greatest thing....

 

[Josh]

I sometimes have a problem with adapting myself in a situation that my teacher's emotional level is low. I find out that I have some kind of pattern when the teacher is in a good mood I dance better, but if he is not in a good mood I do not dance well.

Does this happen to you as well? Or I am too sensitive of doing so. If you have the same experience, would you share with me?

Teachers are bound to have bad days outside of their dance world sometimes that affect their job. It happens to all people, regardless of the type of work. However, if this is a regular thing and seems to be consistent, and if it's affecting your learning, get a teacher who is a bit more professional and who can keep his/her life out of his/her work. Again, it will happen, it happens to all of us and to me sometimes, but generally speaking, real professionals do not carry baggage onto the floor when they teach.

 

[Bella]

real professionals do not carry baggage onto the floor when they teach.

Yes absolutely. All the pros that I've been with are very good at staying professional in terms of bringing their baggage to lessons. Once in a blue moon, there are slips, but enough that it's tolerable.

I recall a time when I felt tension and I spent more time in my lesson trying to be perky and positive, hoping the energy will somehow break the tension. But all it was doing was making me less focused and exhausted from the effort of staying positive.

Another time when tension was present, it put me in a bad mood and ultiminately affecting my focus. Then, all of this just becomes a snowball effect... You'll exhaust yourself trying to cope with your teacher's mood AND not letting your's affect your dancing on top of that.

It is extremely hard not to let someone's emotions affect ours. It's a process... Take as much as you can from the lessons and set aside the negative energy that surrounds you. Easier said than done, I know. As long as you keep focused, you'll be fine.

 

[samina]

This is one area in particular where I have been so impressed by my own instructor. His degree of constancy and professionalism, no matter what his mood may really be or what's going on his life, has been as much a model for me as his dancing. Both he and his partner are like that. So...his way of handling his emotions has only helped me raise my own game in that regard. Dancing poorly because of how one feels isn't really an acceptable excuse, in my book. I recall dancing poorly one day at Ohio for this reason...I was in just a weird emotional state. I felt quite bad about how I let it affect my dancing. But in the end, I had to admit...meh...we're all human.

Still...I think there is a *lot* to be said for developing the kind of professionalism & constancy that creates positivity, no matter one's inner emotional state. In fact...that sort of discipline, IME, actually goes a long way in *changing* one's state to something more elevated. I certainly see this in my pro and am definitely affected positively by it. Earns my respect, and impresses me to strive for it myself.

 

[fascination]

I used to be very affected by the mood of my instructor...he could be a bit brooding, but mostly b/c I had a strong attachment to him on a personal level...it was very difficult to dance if he was not in good space...I was not successful at ignoring it...I have since learned how to be far less affected...it is certainly a challenge if NP is in a more serious mood, but it doesn't affect me as it did in the past with FP...you live and you learn

 

[hereKittyKitty]

I used to have a teacher that was always "up" and "down" emotionally. I couldn't help the fact that it really had a negative effect on me. One lesson (according to him)I would be ready for championship level. The next lesson, I was back at a beginner level. Finally I ended up in a heap, crying after a lesson. I had to say enough is enough.

 

[fascination]

certainly there is a finite amount of tolerance for that for most people...except when it's complicated...shrug...one of my main ponderings lately is: much as I care about my dance progress, I loved being part of a team that I was very close to...and yet it had a serious down side...hard to say...guess there is a season for everything...would say that I am amid a highly productive frost ATM..not sure how I feel about that...not sure I want to feel anything about it...and that pretty much sums up my response to the OP

 

[etp777]

I've been very blessed with this through all three teachers I've worked wiht (And even other pros for groups, etc). Heh, my moods tend to effect the lessons a lot more than teachers.

 

[wooh]

My mood affects things more than anything. I'm borderline bipolar, so when I'm up, I'm up, and when I'm down, I'm down. But I make sure at my job that I'm as positive and even-tempered as possible as much as possible, because it's not fair to the people that depend on me to bring my problems and moods into the workplace. I think the same should be true of the people we pay to teach us to dance. I'm forgiving of them acting human, because well, they are human, but if it's a big thing all the time that's impeding your progress, then it may be time to move on.

 

[fascination]

My mood affects things more than anything. I'm borderline bipolar, so when I'm up, I'm up, and when I'm down, I'm down. But I make sure at my job that I'm as positive and even-tempered as possible as much as possible, because it's not fair to the people that depend on me to bring my problems and moods into the workplace. I think the same should be true of the people we pay to teach us to dance. I'm forgiving of them acting human, because well, they are human, but if it's a big thing all the time that's impeding your progress, then it may be time to move on.

you nailed it...perfectly

 

[2totango]

Even though my pro appears to always be fairly even tempered and positive, I can always tell if he has had a bad day; we'll dance and I'll feel the tension in his arms and body. Most times, though, I can make him laugh and we can have my lesson on a mutually positive note.

He always knows when I'm not doing well or I've had a bad day and there have been several times where I've cried on his shoulder. Its turned into more of a partnership/friendship than I ever thought was possible.