My ballet teacher, we'll call her M (the other one is really sweet, shares my same name, the one I am currently talking about is a nightmare to deal with and actively encourages dancers to continue dancing despite getting injured, even when she saw them get injured in her class). M is constantly pressuring me to take off my mask in class. Background: I wear a mask due to an immune deficiency disorder, which causes me to get sick more easily, and once I get sick I stay sick. Although, I take it off once in a while such as for prom, graduation, recital, etc. Only for special events that I wear makeup with or that require my mask off. Back to the anecdote: I have told her numerous times that I can't due to my immune deficiency, and have explained what it is. I have also told her what my doctors have said. She is constantly telling me "You can't breathe. You are having a hard time breathing. Take your mask down, we're all the way over here." When she says that she is 3-6ft away from me, which is not enough distance, in an enclosed space. (Outside it can be 6 ft and over, in an enclosed space without great airflow it needs to be at least 15-20 ft and over, which includes attics which is a similar comparison to my dance studio, and in an enclosed space with great airflow and HEPPA filters, such as a clinics or hospitals, it can be 10 ft and over.) She told me today, at rehearsal, that she says she notices I have a hard time breathing because she can see my mask "sucking in and out." That's not really a great way to tell anything. That's like saying if an oxygen mask is on you during surgery or something, you are having a hard time breathing because the seal is going up and down. It's a really bad way to tell anything. She says she is afraid I will "pass out or something." Yet fails to realize I constantly sit down whenever I am injured (rehabbing a sprained ankle right now) and encourages me to dance when I am listening to my body tell me I need a break. My mom said next time she does it I should say "I'm not mad or upset. However, respectfully, please stop telling me to take my mask off. I have to have it due to medical reasons, which I have already explained to you. Do we need to have a conversation with _____(insert dance studio owner's name) because she seems to understand?" I'm not sure that's really the best way of going at it because she does not listen to reason and is known to retaliate (such as her taking me out of a dance I was doing really well with because I stood my ground on a day on which I was limping and told her that I couldn't dance right then and needed a small 5-10 minute break). Should I even bring it up to her?? I only have less than a month left with her because I won't be able to take her class (on Tuesdays) because I have college classes that go late into night on Tuesday/Thursday. I have discussed with the studio owner (the one that shares my name) and she said I could just do the LVL IV dance class on Mondays and the adult beginner and intermediate dance classes starting in the fall. All of these classes are taught by the dance studio owner. I need some advice and tips, please.

Posted by Annoymous1 at 2024-05-05 01:55:46 UTC