Hi IMs
This will be long and rambling, please bear with me.
My two girls aged 10 and 14 are dancers and had a real love for it until they saw the dark side of it. Dancing is a beautiful are form and I know our experience is not the norm.
Said dance teacher has no qualifications at all and does not know how to treat kids or adults, has no clue on conflict resolution and does not behave in a professional manner at all. Has admitted she thrives on drama and loves to create it. Her dance school has a real bully culture and people leave in droves every year and yet it is always someone else's fault.
Teacher has said some hideous alarming things about children, mine included. If you dare speak out she goes out of her was to create trouble. We left a year ago and after heavy therapy, the nightmares and anxiety is getting better.
She has also been know to physically abusive and has bragged about different items she has thrown at kids over the years!!! She uses her two older kids to intimidate the younger ones and writes the most disturbing Facebook posts.
My 10 year old has been called every name under the sun and told she won't win anything although she is very accomplished and successful. My 14 year old has been called fat (she is a size 6) and yelled at constantly. They have never heard anything positive from her at all even when they have won award after award( awards are not important but acknowledgment is).
This evil lady is in her late 50s so at best should know better. She has 2 or 3 sucky parents who enable her and is just disgusting. I have contacted child welfare and police to no avail as there is no governing body relating to dance.
Most parents leave being too scared to say anything because of trouble she a created for others.
Please be gentle I already hate myself for enrolling them there and not listening to the warnings. My girls are well thought of in the community, it's heart breaking that this teacher can continue.
I guess I'm asking if.more can be done, anyone know of anyone else I can contact. This woman needs to be stopped before she hurts more kids.
Out of control dance teacher
Out of control dance teacher
Posted in:
Mental Health, Anxiety & Depression, Parenthood Guilt
7 Replies
Have you seen the TV show "Dance Moms"? I honestly didn't think this stuff happened in real life!
Maybe you could reach out to other families that have been affected by her wrath and perhaps as a group you could petition to have her removed. Either way, the more people who come forward about it, the more chance it has of being looked into. I think seeking legal advice would be a good idea too.
Don't beat yourself up, this woman sounds mentally unhinged!
Probably unlikely but I am wondering if the dance school is one of the dance schools in the town I live in as I know someone who acts the exact same and it is the reason so many parents have pulled their girls out of the school.
No there is nothing more that can be done.
As a former dance teacher and dancer I can tell you now that you need ZERO qualifications to teach dance in the private sector, that's the same for art, music etc.
The older the teacher, often the worse they are. When I was being trained it was not unusual for dance teachers to trigger eating disorders in Tweens and teenagers. It was not unusual to be crying why I held my leg in the air, because it needed to be held in the air while the teacher corrected each and every student. You couldn't put your leg down until told.
When choosing a dance school, just like choosing a sport, it's a warning sign if a teacher won't allow you and your child to watch a class before enrolling.
The only thing that can be done is if a parent of an injured child presses charges through the police.
Not all dance schools are like this and when you do your dance teacher training there is no 'conflict resolution' topic etc it's literally all technique.
PS if she is the owner of the dance school there is no way to petition to have someone removed. Just like you can't stop the rude asshole who owns the local petrol station running his own petrol station.
Create an anonymous fb account and spread it around all the local pages what a piece of work she is. Detail it. Especially this time of year with parents finding after school activities. Theres no other way to do it but word of mouth. It makes and breaks a business.
This would have serious legal repercussions for you if it affected her business over something authorities have already dismissed.
Not if its from a fake account. And if other parents share their story once they see someone else has then she can't exactly sue everyone can she.
She sounds like a narcissistic sociopath. I'd get it all on film /record her and take it to a current affair.