late reply to "avoid lousy schools"

[perfect_10]

Hello All!

I'm new to this, but as the daughter of a "dolly dinkle" studio owner, I was very upset to see how badly studios such as mine are talked about. Being a dance major at Oklahoma City University, and having lived in the Atlanta area my whole life, I have learned that there is a perfectly legitimate reason for studios who don't necessarily produce professional dancers - dancing is fun! Some people simply do it for fun, and for social reasons. Some parents don't want it to become a career for their child, they're simply looking for a good way to get their toddlers involved with other children. Some teenagers want to do other things - my graduating dance class a few years ago included two colorguard captains, a yearbook editor, a valadictorian, stars of high school musicals - but also wanted to dance.

This is not to say that my mother has not produced talented, technically sound, and beautiful dancers. But she is in business to bring the joy of dance to anyone who wishes to learn. No, she does not have the degrees or the certificates, but she is surely not in any way harming the dancers at our studio. She realizes when she has an exceptional child, and many times, the talented child will take classes at more "professional" studios in addition to ours, simply because of the great atmosphere my mother creates at our studio.

I urge you all to accept, if not understand, the validity of dolly dinkle studios. Of course, there are indeed studios around the area that really do have children teaching children, parade 7 year olds around in bras, and teach poor technique. But please do not lump all small, family oriented studios together.

~ perfect_10

[KayKay]

I can see this. For instance, in ballroom we have the serious International Latin, International Standard, American Smooth and American Rhythm competitors, and then we have what are known as Social studios. These studios are not into competitveness (though there may be a few who do go on to bigger things). They mainly use syllabus figures to get couples and individuals dancing as quickly as possible. They usually avoid technique in the early stages to prevent any sort of discouragement. Its not the same atmosphere as a competitve studio where everyone works strictly to compete and not to social dance at all. Social ballroom is about nothing but having a good time. :wink:

KayKay

[jdavidb]

Dolly dinkle isn't really a definition. It is a broad set of details meant to describe some elements of truly destructive schools. It's kinda confusing because there are fine schools with a few bits in common with what is usually described in dolly dinkle conversations. It's not a description of a recreational school (or other terminology for describing a non-prepro type of school). Any school that isn't risky or destructive or a waste is always a good, valid option to attend. People just learn all the descriptions of "dolly dinkle" and pick the elements they wish to avoid is about all it amounts to. What your mom has going is probably not dinkle. Small doesn't mean dinkle, and recreational isn't dinkle either.