Most People Can Be Tap Dancers: Ballerinas Are Born

Chronicle (Levin), 22 September 1949, Page 4

Most People Can Be Tap Dancers: Ballerinas Are Born

— ♦ Ballet dancers ,are born not made, whereas any person with a sense of rhythm can learn to tap, says Mrs. Vera Lacey, of Australia. Holder of a full teaching diploma of the British Baliet Organisation of London, Mrs. Lacey is in New Zealand examining pupils in theory and .practical ballet and tap dancing. This. week she examined some 15 pupils of the Irene Oliver Dance Studio (Levin branch) .

A - strong advocate of- pupils learning while they are young, Mrs. Lacey thinks that ballet dancing should be included in schooi currieulums. "So many young people Struggle through subjects which will not be used by them while a girl who cherishe.s the hopes of making ballet her career might have to ^ait until she is 16 before taking the subject dearest to her heart." If ballet dancing was included in schooi ; eurricuiums the student would re1 ceive tuition in small doses instead of long periods at high pressure at a more advanced age. "We are fighting very hard towards this end in Australia. We now have- music included in the intermediate schools. We hope ballet wiil be next." Tf a child has leanIngs towards dancing then it should be allowed to work it into normal studies, added Mrs. Lacey. Must Work Hard. Classical ballet involved long and arduous work, said Mrs. Lacey, and it was uhfortunate that there was a limit in Australasia to the distarice one could go in the professional field. She emphasised that she was not referring to the chorus ballet dancer with one or two specialised numbers, but to the classical ballet dancer. The taient and keenness were there but no steady work assured. She did not think this would always pertain, however, and she was p eased to see that in every country classical ballet was coming back rapidly. Making a personal observation on the training of a classical ballet dancer, Mrs. Lacey said -that it seemed to her that much of the nac-ural artistry of a dancer was restrained by concentration on the technical side of the movements, which was a pity but hard to avoid. Tap on the other hand was pure showmanship from s.art to finish. Teachers, too, found it very hard to concentrate on theory while

teaching the movements. Theory was most importan& and mothers of students could help considerably by taking an interest in their ^ chird and going through the books on theory- with the pupil. Dancing -- could be made much easier wich a combination of teacher, pupil and parent. Teachers had an uphill task as it was and in preparing children for examinations they went to a great deal of trouhle. Strange to say, it was the youngest children who most rapidiy mastered the French terms used in ballet, said Mrs. Lacey. When asked the youngest age at which children should learn dancing, * Mrs. Lacey sard that some started at three years, but four was young enough for the examination room. A certain amount of discipiine was required during ■ exams and the baby did not always follow this as well. Most pupils taking from one to two lessons a week required from five to seven years' tuition at least to reach an accomplished stage. In Australasia there ' was a famine in male ballet dancers. In fact in 80 per cent of the stqdios . there were no male dancers, said Mrs. Lacey. She instanced a group in Australia in which there were six males. "They took some getting together and it is probably the largest male group in the country," she a'dded. Male dancers found no difficulty in securing work and commanded high wages. ■ The Levin -class examined this week all passed and their certificates and points will be forwarded later. Commenting, Mrs. Lacey said that she had seen some very nice taient among the local dancers, although nervousness was apparent. This, however, was most natural in a first examination and ju'dges allowed for it. Pupils were always more confident the second . time. 4