Z performs as a form of self-expression. She does not perform because she likes to practice and practice the lines in her script or the movement in the dance or the notes in a piano piece over and over again.
She practices because she has an internal drive to do well. And because she wants the chance to perform at a level that challenges her.
She performs because something within her compels her to.
Her performing is best when she is doing an original composition. But at her age there are few opportunities for her to perform any thing of her own in front of any audience besides her parents. :)
She enjoys playing Mozart, and performing Shakespeare on a stage in front of an audience. She loves to go on auditions, even just for commercial where all she is asked to do is say a few lines and look pretty. She has asked for and worked hard for those opportunities.
But I think it is interesting that her own compositions are the ones that show her heart and soul. I feel like that means she is a creator rather than just a performer.
That is something I need to be aware of when I am helping her find outlets for this talent.
Currently she has a piano teacher who sees her as someone who can win competitions. The teacher chose only eight of her thirty students to compete in a local competition. Z is the youngest in this competition and she is competing against kids up to seventeen years old.
I don't think that Z has a real chance at winning. I think her teacher wants Z in this because she wants her to get used to competitions and to see if Z has the drive to do the amount of practice it takes to enter these things and win.
Z's teacher is great but I think what she wants for Z is a child who can perform at a high level and to do that it takes a lot of time which means Z's need to create is not being addressed.
It is my job to protect Z's creative spirit, the thing that makes her "shine."
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1 comment:
To me, it sounds like you have analyzed the situation well. Do you think or does Z think you need to find a piano teacher with a different approach?
I think the hard part, at least here, is finding a person with goals compatible with Ami's.
These past months, I have learned not to vest much in the instructors because we have lost them to various issues: work visa, head injury and a therapy outfit taking over another. I am concerned about the instructor's credentials yet they have to work well together.
That said I am happy with Ami’s new piano teacher because has a compatible creative spirit.
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