Important
Commentary on our Philosophy of Competition
The
following, with regard to EXCESSIVE involvement in competition, has been
the philosophy at our Dance Workshop, since the opening of our very first
school, in 1968. We compete in a
limited number of events each season, to
keep involvement healthy and fun!
Nurturing
development of the arts can also build character in dancers. Although
competition may bring out the best in products and services, it CAN bring out
the worst in people. This is
why we limit our involvement to
several competitive events per season. Too much involvement in competition
can make children
view others as “someone to be better than”.
Even
though our competitive involvement is limited, our STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS page
shows that
Florida Dance Workshop
students do consistently leave with
top overall, gold, platinum, titles, judges
choice, and scholarship awards.
However, our dancers are encouraged to compete to achieve their own “personal best”.
We do not condone programs that
utilize “negative
motivators”
or deliberately instill
a sense of SUPERIORITY in any students. Individuals excel in different
areas and possess different gifts. We do not wish to build
self-esteem in one child, at the expense of another. It is our goal to
motivate dancers to achieve their personal best, by assuring them of
their self-worth with or without the award.
Dancers
should be taught to come together, in cooperation, toward the task of mutual accomplishment. Our dancers are
not urged to
DEFEAT others, but to SUPPORT, ASSIST, and ENCOURAGE all fellow
dancers, to improve and ACHIEVE alongside each other. We stress BALANCE and
COMPASSION, while teaching all dancers to foster friendship and MUTUAL success.
Here, mastery of technique is a shared mission, for the good of all, to
rejoice in everyone’s achievements. We hope you agree.
Susan E. (Labousier) Kickbush
Artistic Advisor
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