#natyamnaatak – Accountability Hits Too Close to Home

Sometimes, my students’ younger siblings are my best allies.

One of my pre-teen students arrived at the studio for group class, clearly in a foul mood. 

I watched closely, and let her settle in. We often start with sharing news before beginning our warm up for class. This gives students a chance to share what’s on their minds, and for me to learn a little about what’s going on with them in their lives.

T – “So, what’s the news?”

S – “News is, my sister is SO annoying!”

The grumpy student’s outburst was unusual. This student is usually quite cheerful, and rarely loses her cool. Her younger sister was about 5 at the time, and hadn’t yet started learning dance.

T – “What’s going on?”

S – “She just spent the ENTIRE car ride asking me to show her asamyuta hastas OVER and OVER. She said I hadn’t done my dance homework and needed to practice!”

T – “Hmmm, well it’s good that she is curious and sounds like she wanted to be helpful. Was it good practice for you?”

S – “Well, yeah. But she was so bossy!”

T – “So it might have felt annoying, but she did help you. So that part is good.”

S – “You already keep me accountable, I don’t need that from her too!”

T #mindvoice “Well done, little grasshopper.”