Professional Ambitions: The Value of Critique

Welcome to the latest installment of my monthly series, Professional Ambitions. This is a special learn-alongside-me feature as I take the journey to becoming a professional fusion belly dancer.

This month I’d like to discuss the value of critiques. I’ve experienced critiquing both as a dancer and as a writer. My experience has been that the feedback that you get from critiques can be a real mixed bag — you’ll often receive some really inane thoughts, and misinformed opinions from people who don’t understand the genre you’re working in. But you’ll also receive some real gems of advice that will give you something to chew on for months.

So how do you get good critiques of your dance? The first is to find someone, or a group of someones, willing and able to give you an informed critique. While a non-dance friend may be able to give you some insight from the audience’s POV, you’ll be best off enlisting the help of other experienced belly dancers, especially those who are familiar with your particular style of dance. Sometimes you’ll get the opportunity for critique as part of an event (critiques were a daily part of last year’s Mira Betz retreat), but other options include forming a group for shared critiques of each other’s work, or hiring an established teacher or professional belly dancer to do a thorough critique of your work.

It can be helpful to give some criteria of what you want feedback on. You may really just feel like you’re dissatisfied with your dance in general, or getting too complacent, and you want someone to look at your dance and see what stands out as an area for improvement. But you might also say “I’m not happy with my arms, can you watch this video and give me some feedback on that specifically?” You might also want to have them ignore your technicality, because you already know where you need work on that, and ask for advice that specifically focuses on your stage craft or the structure of your choreography or improv.

The key to taking critiques to heart is not so much to have a thick skin, but to be open and receptive to what you’re going to hear. It’s easy to be sensitive about our dance, because it makes us vulnerable, and you may not want to hear that the movement you think is beautiful is actually a little sloppy, or that the choreography that you meant to be introspective just comes across as boring.

Above all, it’s important to not be defensive. Don’t respond to every constructive bit of criticism with an excuse or explanation. Simply nod and say “Thank you.” If you suspect that there might be an underlying reason why you under-performed on something, wait until the critique is over and instead of saying, for instance, “My arms looked a bit floppy because my shoulders are sore from yesterday,” say, “I notice you mentioned that my arms were a bit floppy. I suspect it might be because my shoulders are sore from yesterday’s drills. Do you think there’s an underlying problem with my technique there, or do I just need to build up my strength?”

Once you’ve received a critique, you may go into a temporary downward spiral of feeling like you suck and you’re a bad dancer, but hopefully you got enough good feedback to balance out the painful stuff (and if not, consider getting a second opinion. You probably don’t want to work with someone who only points out the negative). Instead of getting overwhelmed by everything that needs to be improved, choose one or two things that you feel like you can work on, and come up with a plan on how to improve them before your next performance or critique session.

Remember, critiques are of no value unless you act on them. And you don’t only have to act on the areas that need improving! Use them also to learn what your strengths are, so you can play those up in your performances, or develop them even more. Critiques can help you start to discover your own voice and refine your image as a dancer.

One more thing — it’s OK to cry. I think our society is too focused on bottling up our emotions. You shouldn’t rage, or have a melt-down, but it’s natural to shed a few tears, especially if the piece being critiqued is something that means a lot to you. If you suspect you might cry, just have some tissues at hand and maybe give your critiquer a heads-up that you cry easily. If you’re worried about being too embarrassed about your emotional reaction, you can also work with someone who will give you written feedback that you can review later, in the privacy of your own home, with a snuggly cat to absorb your tears.