Scientific journal
European Journal of Natural History
ISSN 2073-4972
ИФ РИНЦ = 0,301

PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP IN SYSTEM OF PROFESSIONAL CHOREOGRAPHY INSTRUCTION

Sosnina I.G.

One of peculiarities of training at a choreographic school is that 10-year-old children enter it, learn there for 8 years and get the profession of a ballet-dancer.

A choice - is always a certain factor of personal maturity. A professional choice - is a decision, which is made consciously on the ground of a mature self-esteem of abilities, interests, and inclinations. It is impossible to require from a 10-year-old child, hence, the vocational choice for him is made by his parents in the IV grade. As a rule, parents themselves picture the peculiarity of the profession very vaguely and very often have no idea of special abilities and specific requirements of the profession of a ballet-dancer.

The perfection of choreographic education requires studying those personality factors, which influence the given professional activity acquirement success. (Vaganova A.Ya., 1935; Ulanova G.S., 1954; Lopukhov F.V., 1966; Liepa M.E., 1967; Vasilev V.Yu. and Kasatkina N.D., 1968; Tikhomirova I.V., 1971; Sergeyev K.M., 1973; Tarasov N.I., 1981). At the present time, the problem of interconnection of physical and psychomotor development on the one hand, and intellectual one on the other hand, has been studied not deeply enough. Together with that, there is a research, wherein the availability of such interconnections is indirectly proved. Besides, one can speak of a more deep and complex character influences basing on the interconnections of psychomotor and intellectual development, when task-oriented actions on the motional sphere of a person cause correlative changes in the intellectual sphere.

The psychophysiological studies have been known, wherein a favourable influence of optimal exercise stress on the central nervous system´s functional status is registered. Together with that, an inhibitory action of very high and unaccustomed physical exercise on separate intellectual functions, especially on memory processes (Gorbunov G.D., Lokalova N.P., Rotanova G.A., Oya S.M. and others), has been found out.

The study of motor qualities´ and intellectual processes´ development interconnections in school children is of great interest (Gorbunov G.D., Stambulova N.B., Kolman L.V., Volkov V.V., Stambulov A.V., Bandakov M.P. and others). The following has been found out in the study:

  • the connectivity between intellectual processes´ and psychomotor system´s factors in all ages;
  • the connections´ dynamism, and therefore, their peculiarity in every age;
  • sex differences in these connections´ character starting with juvenile age;
  • the possibility of task-oriented influence on the intellectual processes development by means of the so-called "leading motor qualities" formation.

It is important to note that the professional activity of a ballet-dancer in a greater degree promotes the development of a nonverbal intelligence, i.e. such forms of intellectual processes, where structural units are images or actions.

Certainly, the role of intellectual processes in physical actions´ regulation is great, however, emotions and will play not a less important role here.

For the motor activity fulfillment a ballet-dancer needs a serious energy supply. A human being has three main psychological mechanisms of energy mobilization: intellectual, emotional and willed.

The emotional mechanism. The most intensive emotions emerge in a meaningful situation characterized by the uncertainty of its outcomes. A typical example here can serve the situation of specialty examination or a contest, where the emotional mechanism of energy mobilization dominates especially apparently.

The intellectual regulation is voluntary and is purposefully formed in the process of the typical ballet-dancer´s physical actions acquirement. In this case, not the emotions, but the objective, the imaginative picture, which mobilize the amount of energy necessary for the motor action implementation in accustomed conditions, act as regulators.

As for the willed regulation, it is switched on voluntarily in the cases, when on the way to the objective achievement the obstacles or difficulties giving rise to the contradictions of the type: "must, but can´t", "want, but can´t", "must, but don´t want", etc., emerge. In such situations an additional energy mobilization, which is exercised on the mechanism of conation, where the main role is played by verbal self-orders helping the ballet-dancer enhance his activity, sustain it at the necessary level or retard the unwished activity, is necessary. It is obvious that for the future ballet-dancers´ professional training the enumerated mechanisms´ optimal interaction meeting the professional demands is of great value.

As the principle directions of the emotional volition development in the activity of ballet-dancers one can detach the following:

1.The development of emotions and sentiments (rivalry, passion, dedication, responsibility, etc.) speaking in the character of the most important motives of the artistic activity.

The sentiment of joy or discontent associated with the performance or examination result gradually disappears to give place to the flutter of pleasure produced by the anticipation of the oncoming entry.

2.In the process of professional training the ability to control one´s emotions and emotional states and also to use these self-regulation skills in other life spheres gets perfected.

The emotional control manifests itself not only in the skill to conceal, suppress and "lessen" undesired emotions, but also in a special development of expression - external motion expressiveness.

The development of emotions and sentiments, the development of the ability to control one´s emotions is impossible without a qualified psychological aid. But who renders the psychological aid to the choreographic school students?

First of all, it is a teacher or an educational psychologist (if there is one). From this point of view, the psychological accompaniment of the professional training can be presented as the teacher´s and educational psychologist´s activity on rendering a psychological aid to the future ballet-dancer. (The psychological accompaniment of the future ballet-dancer´s professional training has much in common with the phenomenon described by Stambulova N.B.)

The methods of the future ballet-dancer´s professional training psychological accompaniment can be various kinds of psychological aid comprehended as the aid in concrete difficulties negotiation, and wider - as the aid to the learner in his professional activity.

At such comprehension of a psychological aid its main kinds will be:

  • training - the assistance in knowledge and skills acquirement;
  • education - the assistance in personality and individuality formation;
  • psychodiagnosis - the assistance in self-cognition and individualization of the whole training in terms of the psychological peculiarities and development process study;
  • psychoprophylaxis - the assistance in prevention of destructive psychic phenomena rise and development (psychic satiety, psychological barriers, chronic mental strain, motivation to avoid failure, undesired motor skills deautomation, conflicts, etc.);
  • psychocorrection - the assistance in correction and reformation of the raised negative psychic phenomena;
  • psychological enlightenment - the assistance in psychological knowledge acquirement necessary for self-perfection;
  • psychological counseling - the assistance to the teacher and student in a concrete situation analysis and making a decision;
  • psychological trainings - specially developed complexes of autogenic training, psychotechnical exercises and games helping in development of necessary psychological qualities and skills;
  • psychological preparation - the use of all kinds of psychological aid for providing psychic readiness for classes, rehearsals, examinations, contests, concerts and performances.

In spite of the fact that all these kinds of psychological aid are closely interconnected, each of them has its own peculiarity, its general and particular technologies, the knowledge of which enhances the teacher´s psychological competence essentially.

In each training phase, according to its tasks and the learners´ age, there is a definite specificity both in using separate kinds of psychological aid, and in their combination.

Psychological aid peculiarities in the elementary training phase in a choreographic school.

As a rule, the children entering the school either have almost no initial idea of ballet, or their idea is perverted. Many of the children, in connection with this, are unable to evaluate their choice correctness; besides, they experience a "deception of expectations" in various ways. The mismatch of the expectations and the ideas of ballet in general and the real academic activity often leads to disappointment, motivation fall.

1. One can emphasize two aspects of the "deception of expectations", two contradictions:

a) between the idea of ballet as a "festival" (got from watching television, visiting theatre) typical of children and real "rough work";

b) between the habit of children (especially junior school students) to follow the "pleasure principle" in motor activity and the real claim to work through "I can´t" and "I don´t want".

2. The necessity to approve oneself positively from the first lessons at a total absence of professional training.

3. For a considerable part of the learners the problem of coping with fears, among which the most typical ones are: the "fear of the teacher", the "fear of professional examinations", the "fear to be considered not promising", is a topical one.

The elementary training phase is associated with the acquirement of the foundations of professional activity. There appear a good few of psychological hardships in the academic process: it is difficult to be concentrated during the whole period; it is difficult to understand the movements´ names, which sound in French; it is difficult to overcome the fatigue and follow out all the assignments. When something goes wrong, a desire to avoid further repetitions arises very often. All this not only slows down the training process, but also can become the reason of the psychological complexes formation (fear of examinations, mates´ mockeries, etc.). The first specialty examinations become the most important test for the children: there is a special atmosphere there, a special anxiety, special significance of the result, here the first experience of success and failures is acquired. The student, who has got the label of a "non-promising" one, has great chances to become "isolated" in the class.

In this connection, while developing the psychological accompaniment of the ballet-dancer´s professional becoming at every training phase it is necessary to take into account both the specificity of the phase itself, and the developmental age peculiarities of children in the given period.

The psychological accompaniment should include:

1. Psychological aid subproblems in accord with its basic directions (in studies, examinations, while preparing for concerts and performances, etc.):

  • the assistance in necessary motor skills and abilities acquirement, development of motor teachability;
  • the assistance in professionally important qualities development - motor and psychic ones;
  • the motivation formation;
  • the assistance in general adjustment for the performance;
  • the formation of an adequate attitude towards success and failure;
  • the assistance in making contact with teachers and students;
  • the assistance in preparation or adaptation for a new general mode of life;

2. General problems of these tasks realization in terms of the integrated use of all the kinds of psychological aid with due consideration of the future ballet-dancers´ age-specific features.

The article is admitted to the International Scientific Conference « Modern academic activity maintenance », Bali, Indonesia, January 22-29, 2008, came to the editorial office on 21.12.07