Dance Subculture

1.     Narrative of Thought: When I first chose my subject, I thought I was going to go into the world of competition dance the way I saw it.  Being an ex-competition dancer myself I thought it would be interesting for others to be able to experience what I did.  I also was a modern dance student, so I was going to compare the two worlds and go that direction.  My subject has actually changed a lot since then, for two reasons; one that I can’t do a focus on a subculture that I am a part of, and two, following people through their endeavors is actually a lot different from my own experience.  I thought everyone had the same thoughts and opinions as myself, but it turns out there’s much more dynamic to this world of dancers.  I decided to steer away from my previous route and focus on young dancers, how they are seen in the outside community, as well as in their own subculture and research their opinions of the world of competition dance. 

2.     Look at strands on the web:

a.     Shared language: “Merde,” facials, makeup, hair, platinum, high gold, gold, silver, studio (two meanings), conditioning, jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, kick, lyrical

b.     Shared artifacts: costumes, makeup, hair gel, hair pins, hair binders, bobby pins (different from hair pins), bun forms, hair spray, hair nets, earrings, rhinestones, warm-ups, shoes, trophies, crowns, ribbons

c.      Common rituals and traditions: crazy dance moms, praying, stretching, going through dances, chants

d.     Shared beliefs and attitudes: Superstition of telling a dancer to “break a leg” and “good luck”, watching the dance before yours before going on stage, split between “holier than thou” and modest

3.     Shared beliefs and attitudes:

a.     “Break a leg”/”Good luck”: To a dancer, the usual good luck saying of “break a leg” can be considered an omen.  Most of the dance world is very superstitious and telling a dancer to “break a leg” can be taken very seriously.  Because legs are very important to the dancer, a broken leg can mean sitting out the rest of the season or even problems for the rest of their lives as dancers.  Saying the phrase, “merde” is usually preferred.  Loosely translated, “merde” means, “shit” in French.  The reasoning that “good luck” isn’t said to dancers is because of their superstition that wishing good luck would bring bad luck.  According to an online dance forum, dancers believe that saying something negative will bring positivity to performances.

b.     Watching the dance before: Many competition coaches tell their dancers not to watch the dancers backstage before they go on for fear that they will forget their dance and start performing the dance they just saw.  This is another superstition, because in all reality, dances can’t be picked up that quickly.  It’s a way of keeping the dancers focused and bringing down anxiety before their turn on stage.  There is also an aspect of comparing one’s dance to the ones in the same category, at times psyching the dancer out to the point of compromising the best performance a dancer can have. 

c.      “Holier than thou” vs. Modest: There is a split in the competition dance world between having a “holier than thou” ego and modest.  It all comes down to what is important within the studio.  This is actually more prevalent between the younger dancers than with the older ones.  Some of the girls believe that acting rudely to competition is a way of showing confidence and poise, while other studios coach their teams to always be respectful and kind to everyone competing against them.  You see a lot of both at competitions, but those who are rude are notorious for acting this way and that way of acting is not tolerated in the general community.