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Courtney Wrenn
Ms. Hamby
ENGL 1101- Section 19/28
15 October 2014
Instructors, Handouts, and Conversations
Walking into the studio the students were dispersed around the room stretching and
preparing for class as the instructor was standing in the front corner near the stereo. When the
teacher was ready for class to begin all she had to do was start the music and walk towards the
center of room. The students then ended what they were doing and gave their full attention to the
instructor. This is not something students are taught during their time as a student in the studio.
There are unspoken rules that are gained while a student at the studio. Students that have been a
part of the studio for a number of years are easily detectable because of the way they conduct
themselves in and out of class time at the studio. The particular classes I observed had students
ranging from fifteen years old to eighteen years old. The studio as a whole caters to a variety of
ages including three year olds to any aged adult. The discourse community of The Greenville
Civic Ballet includes not only the students but also the instructors and parents. Instructors range
from the age of nineteen to mid-forties. All of the instructors would be considered an expert
regardless of how long they have been teaching. This is because no matter how long they have
been teaching at, The Greenville Civic Ballet or at another dance studio, they have the
experience of dancing and are very knowledgeable on the subject. The majority of these have
been teaching for fifteen or more years and have a variety of experiences. Others although they
are not experts in the field of teaching are still very knowledgeable and would be considered
extremely skillful in the dance studio. Looking around not only in the class I was observing but
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the studio as a whole I could see that there was a variation of races. And although I cannot be
certain I came to the conclusion that there was an array of social-economic status throughout the
studio. The parents pose a different level of understanding in the discourse of the community.
They understand some aspects more than others and are always in the process of learning.
Parents can in a way choose how involved they are in the dance studio therefore how
understanding they are on the subject. The discourse community of The Greenville Civic Ballet
has a range of demographics which means the communication that takes place varies depending
on who the audience is.
Walking into the dance studio there was pictures on the glass of the front of the studio of
four girls of different ethnic backgrounds and variety of ages performing four different types of
dance. I opened the door and walked into the lobby of the dance studio that had been home to me
for the past 13 years. Even though I was very aware of how things happened at The Greenville
Civic Ballet I went in with a blank slate so that I could focus on the communication aspect. I sat
on the bench located in the front of the classroom. The class began with a warm-up. A warm up
is meant to raise the body temperature and increase blood flow to prevent injury while dancing.
Ms. Cherita, the instructor, stood in the front of the class to lead the class. She did not say much
during this time. Only when needing to clarify did she tell the class what to do. Warm up took
place for the first fifteen minutes of class and was followed by across the floor. Across the
floor is an activity when the instructor tells or shows you movements that travel across the floor.
This is normally done in groups of two or three depending on the movement and how closely the
instructor wants to watch the students. During across the floor Ms. Cherita would tell students
one at a time as they were dancing what they could do to improve a certain movement. Hold
your center and spot the wall! she yelled at Anna, one of the older students in the class, as she
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was doing a turning sequence across the floor. The next time Anna performed the routine Ms.
Cherita yelled, Much better, do you feel the difference. I was not expecting as much praise as I
heard during class. Giving the students the admiration while they were performing seemed to
boost their confidence and made them want to perform better. Power in the dance studio is
showed by how the community communicates. . The instructors show there power over the
students by having an authoritative tone. When learning different routines students felt
comfortable asking questions if they did not understand what they were being told to do. I could
immediately tell the difference between who was in power within the classroom. Students waited
there turn before speaking and made sure to uphold manners. When instructors tried to persuade
students to perform a certain routine they would simply ask students or try to motivate them with
a form of reward. A reward for a dance student could be a number of things including, a higher
position in a performance or better formation on stage. As I sat in the front of the room taking
notes with a spiral notebook and pen I tried to observe all the students and how they interacted
with other classmates and the teacher. Throughout class I was able to see out of the glass door I
had walked through into the main lobby. Younger kids frequently walked up to the door and
peered inside to watch the big girls dance. Ms. Cherita used this as motivation to her students
say You have people watching you. The class automatically seemed to increase their level of
energy as to impress whoever was watching. As I continued to watch this upper level class with
girls that had been dancing anywhere from five to fifteen years I began to recognize that different
age groups were going to interact with peers and instructors in different ways and my research
would never be complete. I then decided I would just focus mainly on the level I was watching
and based my conclusion on what I was observing.
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I researched The Greenville Civic Ballet in a variety of ways to obtain different sources
of information. In a one-on-one interview with Kayla Hathaway, an instructor at The Greenville
Civic Ballet, I was able to learn more about how and why things take place as they do. I chose to
interview Ms. Hathaway since she was first a student at the dance studio before becoming an
instructor. Because of this Ms. Hathaway knows the studio from a number of viewpoints and was
able to talk about it from both sides, student and teacher. For the interview she took me into the
main office at the front of the studio. It had a window so costumers could ask for assistances but
was private enough to get work done and conduct the interview. Located in the office there were
two desks and against the back wall, floor to ceiling custom cabinets. We pulled out two desk
chairs and began our interview. Not long after we began I noticed that more students were
arriving for class. I looked up at the clock, hanging on the wall beside the door, reading 6:30. I
could tell that this was a demanding time for the dance studio not only by the quantity of students
but by the amount of service at the window in the office.
Throughout my observations in the research processes I noticed that certain things
happened repeatedly. The way a conversation was held during a class was much different than if
talking to an instructor before or after class with a certain subject. During class the dialogue was
in short spurts to either ask a question or just to say something. Students frequently ask questions
while dancing or teachers correct what a particular person or the group as a whole is doing is a
common source of conversation in the studio. Conversations that take place before class between
an instructor and student are different in the way that the purpose is to receive an answer to a
question a student may have or discuss a topic that is for that particular student. While
interviewing Kayla, I asked how instructors can effectively communicate with the parents. She
told me that they try to have a foundational relationship with them from the beginning so that if
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there is ever an issue it is easy to address. A newsletter goes out monthly that informs parents of
important events or dates coming up that their students might fail to mention. This is so parents
are always included even if they are unable to physically be at the studio weekly. The newsletters
are more formal than a face to face conversation would be and is done in a professional manner.
The company website is also a convenient way for parents to stay up to date with the happenings
at the studio. The websites purpose is not just to inform current member of the studio but to
reach and appeal to the community. The way the website is set up in a way that appeals to the
community. There are subheadings located on the main page enabling the user to maneuver the
website efficiently. Certain pictures are placed on the pages strategically to appeal to the viewers.
The pictures are placed in prominent positions on the page. The images are ones that show a
variety of ages to appeal to prospective students. Technique is exhibited in the pictures to
demonstrate the talent being taught in the studio.
The Greenville Civic Ballet communicates with students in a number of ways. They
approach relationships with their students so that they are comfortable in the environment.
Students were not the only part of the discourse community that I was researching. Parents and
instructors were a main part of the discourse community. Instructors decided what the most
effective way to communicate with students and parents. Handouts, emails, and face to face
conversations were used the majority of the time. Through looking at the dance studio from an
outside perspective, the motives beside everything become clearer. Students learn not only from
direct instruction but leave knowing correct curtesy. Instructors, although they are experts are
always learning. Similar to instructors, parents are always learning in a different aspect. They
can control how much they want to know or understand but are always encourage to partake in
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studio activities. The Greenville Civic Ballet approaches conversations depending on who it is
directed towards.





















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Works Cited
Greenville Civic Ballet. Greenville Civic Ballet.N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.