Telephone Pedagogy.
I remember as a young girl playing the whispering game, since called Telephone, and the fun we had realising someone had mucked up terribly during the exchange of information from one to another.

As I observe some Ballroom dance tuition in Aotearoa I’ve been reminded of this game and am saddened that this transmission chaining has allowed a lack of investment within our business. What starts as a simple message is morphed into new meaning as it is passed on, with the message becoming almost unrecognizable by its completion!

Within the Māori culture, traditions are passed down from generation to generation with the utmost respect and in its purest form. Poi dance or the haka must be diligently studied and performed with the greatest stewardship to the culture and its predecessors.

As dance teachers we start with passing on what we ourselves have learned, then with each subsequent transference a component may get lost and somewhere along the line we modernise and add accumulated knowledge. That’s all good, I’m in favour of progression. But the speed with which the purest of information is abandoned for an easier route profoundly disturbs me within our industry. There is enough material available to ensure your dance education is founded on elements that contribute to the mastery of our dance form. Kia tūpato…, nonchalance is unbecoming!

I consider myself extremely fortunate, albeit a choice, to have learned from the great masters of dance themselves. Walter Laird, June McMurdo, Lorna Lee, Peter Eggleton provided us with invaluable information not only regarding our competitive dance career but to our lifelong profession of teaching dance.
It is then my duty to convey the intellectual matter entrusted to me to the next generation as factually and genuinely as possible. Some may have been lost through memory, and facts have been developed, updated and readdressed for the modern styling but I have felt an obligation to their mastery to relay their intellectual matter with honour and care.

Great teachers are lifelong learners – constantly expanding their own knowledge while adapting their teaching methods to cater to their pupils learning style. They will encourage and inspire, they will guide and nurture, they will always put their pupils journey of growth first and their own self-importance last. A true teacher is a mentor, has empathy, creates a safe space and leads by example.
I implore all dance custodians, our kaitiaki, to become leaders, to respect the information we carry, protect it as it is conveyed, to embrace growth mindset and, by believing in your ability, to improve and grow; expecting nothing but excellence from yourself.

Te manu e kai i te miro, nōna te ngahere. Te manu e kai i te mātauranga, nōna te ao.
The bird that feeds on the miro berry, theirs is the forest. The bird that feeds on the tree of knowledge, theirs is the world.

Kia ora !
Rachell x

Rachell van der Veek (Ngati Raukawa) is a former New Zealand Ballroom and Latin American champion, World showdance finalist, World 10-dance semi-finalist and advisor to the Dutch National Ballet Co.

“Victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan”

Why is there a need for colleague’s to boost one other’s ego and is there a payoff?

I have always seen myself as a teacher of dance whom educates, motivates and encourages dancers of all ages and levels to embrace dance as a joyful pastime. Results, for me personally, encompass the improvement of skills and a feeling of achievement rather than a, perceivably subjective, first placing.

Although I am great at mentoring and fairly good at hand holding I don’t enjoy the responsibility for an outcome and therefore do not consider myself a laudable coach. A dancers path to excellence follows many aspects/ facets, most of which will be down to their own talent, skills, hard work and mental and physical resilience.
Given that a teacher will be congratulated on the placing of his couple in a competition it would then follow that an unsatisfactory result would effectuate a reprimanding of this same teacher/coach. And that I find objectionable!
If you are happy to pile the plate with the good but deposit it at someone else’s feet when it goes sour you embody neither a responsible teacher nor a mentor in my opinion.

As with life, it is not the destination but rather the journey that is fulfilling. So too with dance- so learn, move, engage and enjoy your ride while we educators, as guardians of your travels, will support and applaud your joyful efforts no matter the outcome.

Champions are not necessarily winners and equally the winners are not necessarily the champion!

Ngā manaakitanga.

Rachell van der Veek (Ngati Raukawa) is a former New Zealand Ballroom and Latin American champion, World showdance finalist, World 10-dance semi-finalist and advisor to the Dutch National Ballet Co.

Equity for our professionals; a review of ballroom dance qualifications in New Zealand

It is reasonable to expect that dance teachers will be qualified in the form of dance they teach.
However sensible this request, there are no legal requirements necessary to become a dance teacher and at present anybody that wishes to open a dance studio can do so with no experience or certificate needed and only their word on their dancing capabilities.

We presume our clients will recognise a well-trained dance instructor even outside the boundaries of a non-regulated profession.

In New Zealand we have three organisations that examine dancers on becoming confederate instructors in dance; these being the SATD, the NZFATD and the NZFDT. In the past these organisations have recognized each other’s qualification by cross-crediting them but unfortunately this process has faltered recently. Some dance teachers, although qualified under one society, are not being recognized by others as valuable contributors to our dance industry simply because their exams have been achieved with a rival organisation. This is a procedure that in the past was granted as a gentleman’s agreement. How sad for our dance business that this mutually beneficial etiquette is no longer honoured.

This means some former New Zealand champions, and proud representatives of our country, won’t be seen rendering a decision at certain competitions any time soon.

Compare it to graduating from high school; when being honoured with your degree it would be frustrating if the qualifications were not recognized due to you attending a particular high school!

The solution may lie in just one body taking over the qualifications of our professionals. That is possible when our organisations (SATD, NZFDT, NZFATD) are bundled into one governing body. The representation of such a body is easy to obtain and comes with great responsibility for the examiners and trainers.

The level of the dance exams can then be nationally agreed upon and could encompass more than just the technique books. Subjects such as how to run a business, how to become a respectable (and respected) teacher, the anatomy of the human body, a musical study of the rhythms could be elements included in our course process to becoming a dance teacher. This would provide a huge benefit to the candidates whether wishing to run a, social or competitive, dance studio or become an accomplished dance sport trainer. These subjects could be tutored by people already active in our business as we undeniably have enough proficiently educated people in the dance branches who can deliver this.

This may be a bridge too far for now, so see it as something to be seriously considered.
In essence, I am proposing that we start with the simple step of respecting each other’s qualifications within the dance world, certainly for those that have proven themselves to be good ambassadors for our industry.
Kanikani tonu!

Rachell van der Veek (Ngati Raukawa) is a former New Zealand Ballroom and Latin American champion, World showdance finalist, World 10-dance semi-finalist and advisor to the Dutch National Ballet Co.

Kiwis can fly!

Observations of an expat returned kiwi.

My home country is still the paradise I have always believed it to be.
Much has changed since I left in 1986 for what I thought was to be a short dancing O.E.
However, a realisation of my talent, a hunger for knowledge and success and a lifelong collaboration with the love of my life changed the course of my own history.
A fantastic dance career filled with the joys of dance and the delight of teaching others.
Then two years ago the move back to Aotearoa has now filled my life with the joy of whanau and time spent strolling the gorgeous coastline.
My great love for dance has created some confusion in my reflective, ever-reasoning mind because coming back to your country of origin after 35 years poses some interesting problems and observations.
Dance in New Zealand has always been a rather troublesome affair. Comprised of an array of individual entities protecting their own turf, a political arena where democracy is at times undermined.
Although the fact may be vehemently denied, Dancesport in NZ is still in its infancy, due to the outward focus on far away shores that have little in common with our insular, yet perfectly adequate, institution.
It is time to work together- as colleagues, as unified dance lovers and as guardians of the sport.

No man is an island,

Entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent, 

A part of the main.

Any man’s death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.

That’s food for thought; let not the bell toll for ballroom dancing in Aotearoa- working together will complete us!

How wonderful it could be if we would take the time and effort to look within our own structures, really seriously decide what is best for our glorious dancers within this tangled network whilst leaving the histrionics and egos at the door to our whare.

Kia atawhai x

Rachell van der Veek (Ngati Raukawa) is a former New Zealand Ballroom and Latin American champion, World showdance finalist, World 10-dance semi-finalist and advisor to the Dutch National Ballet Co.