As the founder and executive director of Dance for Life Suicide Prevention & Mental Health nonprofit since 2018 and a retired dance studio owner for 30 years, I have a profound love for the beauty of the dance arts and the joy and fulfillment it can bring into the lives of children, adolescents and adults. During my journey of providing quality dance education in a variety of dance genres, I know first-hand the importance of making sure youth are presented in a positive and respectful manner while still balancing the most state-of-the-art movement.
The goal of our two dance and performing arts academies – Starstruck Dance & Performing Arts, a competitive and non-competitive dance studio, and Dream Pointe Ballet Company, a pre-professional ballet company – was to provide the highest quality cutting-edge choreography while maintaining high standards in movement and costuming. We wanted every dancer to reach their greatest potential in dance and use their talent to reach and push to the limit what they can do in the dance world while providing wonderful performing arts for patrons to enjoy.
As part of this endeavor, we worked to make sure all our dancers were dressed appropriately for their age, making sure the costume did not distract from the dancing. Risque or costumes which highlighted the costume more than the dancer were avoided. We are extremely proud of the numerous ballet productions including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Ice Princess and more giving dancers the ability to create through movement a story to remember with beautiful costumes, venues and audiences while also providing competitive dance team opportunities locally and nationally to push dancers to the pinnacle of accomplishment.
Although dance training was a very important aspect of our goals, the self-esteem and character of our dancers were also central to our class environment. Dancers rely on the character and the standards of the dance director and owner as well as the teachers employed by each dance studio to make judgement calls on costuming and choreography. Some choreography, no matter the age, is inappropriate. Choreography that is sexualized for children is never appropriate. The role of dance directors and teachers on how their standards affect their students and their subsequent view of themselves cannot be overstated. Dance should be used to uplift and inspire not denigrate and degrade.
How children view themselves when put in a situation where they are hypersexualized is paramount as we speak of mental health. Young girls who are hypersexualized have lower self-esteem and develop beliefs that women are sexual objects instead of incredible, smart, talented women. The belief that hyper sexualization at a young age is acceptable or embraced ultimately develops these aspiring dancers into adulthood where they believe their own contribution in society is how they look and that the greatest power they have is sexual.
Healthy dancing where the expression, emotion, technique, energy and storytelling of every dance piece using the incredible instrument of the dancer’s body moving seamlessly through time to a variety of musical scores should be the goal of all dancers and choreographers as well as the mastery of dance skills to reach maximum potential. Sexuality has nothing to do with becoming a great dancer.
Dance influences dancers far beyond performing on a stage. They will continue to perform throughout life and the values, experiences and self-respect learned while in the dance classroom will reflect on each dancer’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and joy in living. Our mission for Dance for Life is to highlight the therapeutic properties of dance to improve mental health and how dance is taught and presented is absolutely essential in completing this mission.
Bio: Kristin Barlow is the founder and executive director of Dance for Life Suicide Prevention & Mental Health nonprofit with headquarters in Florida as well as CEO of Superezliving dba Saint Sheetz. She is an entrepreneur, mental health advocate, retired dance owner and director of two performing arts academies in both California and Utah for 30 years, and loves dance and the performing arts. She is a proud mother of five wonderful children, two daughter-in-laws and two energetic grandchildren. She loves to travel, write, create, organize and spend time with family.
https://www.danceforlifenation.org
