Teaching dance in prison

If you have trained to become a dance teacher, the world is wide open – literally and figuratively. You can look for a job close to home, or you can go to the other side of the earth. You can teach in a ballet school, a football club, a centre for the arts, a neighbourhood community centre, or … a prison. As part of her programme at the Rotterdam Dance Academy, Roxanne Spijkers (Vught, 1987), who graduated this summer, taught dance classes in a judicial institution for juvenile offenders.

Her intent was to investigate the sort of contribution that dance classes could make to the development of young people incarcerated in institutions for juvenile offenders (so-called ‘youth prisons’). But when she was asked to give a few classes herself, she decided to accept the challenge. ‘I had no idea what to expect. It was really like jumping in at the deep end,’ says Roxanne Spijkers looking back. ‘The hermetically sealed environment alone made a really big impression on me. How was I going to feel standing in front of a group of kids in detention?’

Now she can explain calmly that the experience was equally exciting and educational for her. She taught a 45-minute dance class – street dance, to be specific – once a week for six weeks to a group of three boys and a group of twelve girls between the ages of 12 and 18, with some exceptions in the early 20s. The dance classes took place in the Justitiële Jeugd Inrichting (judicial institution for juvenile offenders) Den Hey-Acker in Breda. Roxanne: ‘I only knew the first names of the boys and girls. I had no information about why they were in a youth prison.’ She was told beforehand that the size of the group might vary from class to class. ‘If you’ve been disobedient while you’re in detention or if you have broken the rules, you are disciplined with a stricter programme, and you’re not allowed, for example, to take part in a dance class.’ Roxanne was also told that she should avoid ‘movements that could be seen as sexual’. And during classes with boys, she was absolutely not to wear V-necked shirts or other revealing clothing.

Her first class in the juvenile institution was with the boys, and it went really well, says Roxanne. ‘They accepted me almost immediately as a teacher, and I was able to teach the class as planned without any problems.’ It was another story with the girls. Roxanne: ‘They were very challenging. A couple of the girls had decided to laugh at me, to refuse to participate and to make audible remarks. But I just started teaching the class.’ She had consciously decided not to use negative reinforcement. Roxanne knows that the important thing in motivating young people is to emphasise what they are doing well. Her approach produced good results: ‘Toward the end of the class, they accepted me. Several of the girls came up to me afterwards to let me know that they had really enjoyed themselves.’

Her students really wanted to conclude the series of lessons with a presentation, and the administration of Den Hey-Acker honoured the request. The boys’ and girls’ groups were joined together for the occasion. ‘That had never happened before,’ says Roxanne. ‘And you could tell! The class before the presentation was really difficult because they couldn’t concentrate. I had to get really tough with them. That class demanded much more of my energy than previous classes had.’ Roxanne was unable to attend the final presentation because of illness, something she really regrets. ‘But they gave the performance, even though there were only four girls and no boys – the rest of the girls were being punished, and the boys had been moved to a different location while some construction work was going on.’

Her project with the youth in the institution for juvenile offenders taught her that she can do more than she thought, says Roxanne. ‘And I also got interested in social work. Maybe I’ll decide to continue my education in that direction.’

She now has five years at the Havo voor Muziek en Dans and four years at the Rotterdam Dance Academy behind her. What does the future look like? Roxanne: ‘I’ll start to work as a freelance teacher and dancer; get experience under my belt. I also want to continue to devote time to Balinese dance, which is my great love. I perform together with my teacher, Aafke de Jong, who is also a former student of the Rotterdam Dance Academy.’ With a satisfied grin: ‘Beyond that, in principle, I am open to just about everything.’

This article is also published in Codarts Magazine Summer 2008.