{"id":27462,"date":"2024-08-14T11:09:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T11:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=27462"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:10:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:10:54","slug":"playfulness-and-resilience-how-ballet-and-music-schools-link-them-together-to-amplify-both","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playfulness-and-resilience-how-ballet-and-music-schools-link-them-together-to-amplify-both\/","title":{"rendered":"Playfulness and Resilience: How Ballet and Music Schools Link Them Together to Amplify Both"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 14 Aug 2024 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Playfulness and Resilience: How Ballet and Music Schools Link Them Together to Amplify Both<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a>, Leadership & Culture<\/a> <\/div>\n
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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playfulness-and-resilience-how-ballet-and-music-schools-link-them-together-to-amplify-both\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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We bring you four lessons in nurturing young talent at two renowned performing arts schools.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
There are echoes of coaching eras past in the way Adrian Blake Mitchell describes his ballet schooling at St Petersburg\u2019s renowned Vaganova Academy.<\/h6>\n

\u201cMy teacher was extremely intimidating and that\u2019s how he got good work out of us,\u201d he told an audience at June\u2019s Leaders Sport Performance Summit at Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Mitchell teaches at the highly regarded Westside Ballet School, which is just across the road from Red Bull on Stewart Street in Santa Monica.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur training approach is really very much about fostering their love of the art form,\u201d he continued. Rather than teaching from fear or intimidation, this \u201cresults in better artists, kinder and healthier people at the end of it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Those words chimed with Leaders Performance Institute members at the summit, where Mitchell spoke alongside Eileen Strempel, the Inaugural Dean at the prestigious Herb Alpert School of Music, at UCLA.<\/p>\n

Here, we pick out four lessons in how the performing arts nurture their young talent.<\/p>\n

1. The teachers must engender a sense of playfulness in students<\/strong><\/p>\n

If a love of art is essential, then it follows that the teacher \u2013 or coach \u2013 has to fit the bill just as much as any prospective student. \u201cWe\u2019re also hiring teachers and thinking about the ecosystem,\u201d said Strempel. The Herb Alpert offers a range of courses from musicology and ethnomusicology to composition and conducting. \u201cWhat energies are those faculty bringing into our school?\u201d She explained her belief that a love of art stems from playfulness. \u201cWe don\u2019t actually talk about \u2018working\u2019 in music \u2013 we play<\/em> music \u2013 and retaining that sense of play is absolutely integral.\u201d The key is to foster an environment where the students are \u201cplaying with and inspired by each other\u201d.<\/p>\n

2. Individual development is about finding \u2018other ways to win\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ballet and music, much like sport, are ensemble activities and the risk is that the development of the individual can be overlooked. The Westside and Herb Alpert counter this by surfacing a student\u2019s intrinsic motivation. Strempel said: \u201cThe solution to a problem might be X or Y, but we try to bring more profound questions such as \u2018what is this piece of music about? What am I trying to convey? What am I bringing to this piece as an artist?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It speaks to what Mitchell called \u201cwinning in other ways\u201d. He said: \u201cThis ties into the idea of improvisation and allowing us to experiment and find different moments in our work that can create success.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. They provoke failure<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the coach\u2019s perspective, individual progress is about trying to develop solution-minded individuals who can adapt, adjust and improvise on the fly. This can lead to increased rates of failure, which the Westside readily accepts. \u201cSometimes when I\u2019m really pushing my students we will repeat a variation three or four times without a break; no corrections,\u201d said Mitchell. It provokes a level of fatigue akin to a performance but in a lower-stakes setting. \u201cIt\u2019s important for that experience to be out of the way for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Herb Alpert, teachers might introduce violin students to one of the two Stradivarius violins in their possession. Such is the difference in sound, colour, breadth and depth that it takes even an accomplished player six months to get to grips with the vintage instrument. Or if a student has been practising in the western symphonic orchestral tradition the school might introduce them to the completely different world of Afro Latin jazz. \u201cThe challenge is finding ways to expand the range of possibilities that allows an individual to extend themselves,\u201d said Strempel.<\/p>\n

4. They connect that failure with motivation and resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Herb Alpert\u2019s approach to creating a caring and nurturing environment does much to foster resilience but, as Strempel explained, it also comes back to a student\u2019s intrinsic motivation. \u201cIf you keep it on the level of \u2018I just want a great performance\u2019 or \u2018I just want to win the game\u2019 that leaves so much creative potential on the table,\u201d she said, being sure to include a sporting analogy. \u201cYou have to tap into intrinsic motivation to do that right, whether it\u2019s because you want to give back to your community or because you\u2019ve got something you want to say. It\u2019s not about being a better musician, dancer or athlete but being a better human being\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

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