One day I found myself staring at all the eager dance students in my class and sadly shaking my head.\u00a0 All of them were working so hard and all of them had absolutely no idea what they were getting themselves into.\u00a0 What would happen to them if they actually succeeded in mastering the technique and entered the professional level?\u00a0 The problem was (and is) that most of my students and most of their parents for that matter only saw the glamorous side of the profession: the costumes, the performances, the travel, the public acclaim, etc.\u00a0 True \u2013 dance is those things but there\u2019s also another side to the business that is not quite so wonderful: physical adversity, low pay, little job security and a guaranteed mid-life crisis when your body can no longer keep up with the physical demands.\u00a0 How could I prepare my students for this life?\u00a0 I decided to write down my own experiences in the world of dance, in hopes that it will give dance students and their parents some insight into the business of professional dance.\u00a0 From there, they can make their own informed decisions.<\/p>\n
So who am I?\u00a0 I am a dancer.\u00a0 Nobody famous.\u00a0 Just one dancer who like many others spent a lot of years training for a profession that concentrates on the here and now.\u00a0 We give live (never to be repeated) performances that are attended by a set number of people.\u00a0 Some of our performances leave a lasting impact on those who saw them and some of our performances simply fade away into a vast void of lost memories.\u00a0 My finest moments on stage were never recorded and who except a few remember them?\u00a0 So why do it?\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 Believe me \u2013 I have pondered that question a lot.\u00a0 The answer is that dance is that primal connection to our emotional lives \u2013 beyond the material world that we live in.\u00a0 A combination of the physical movement and the creative input forces us to constantly connect with our true essence.\u00a0\u00a0 How we connect to our fellow human beings is the only thing in life that is truly important.\u00a0 Whether you can afford to buy a luxury car or own a big house doesn\u2019t really make a big difference in the large scheme of things.<\/p>\n
A life in dance does have its downsides.\u00a0 My own mother said that she made two mistakes with me.\u00a0 The first mistake was allowing me to start dancing.\u00a0 The second mistake was allowing me to continue dancing.\u00a0 Now if you ask my opinion, I think that my life as a dancer and a choreographer has been a wonderful experience.\u00a0 It has given me the opportunity to travel around the world, follow my own creative impulses and has given me wonderful insights into the human spirit. I do however appreciate my mother\u2019s view.\u00a0 She sees a grown woman who lives paycheck to paycheck with no job security, no pension, no benefits and no assets.\u00a0 For me the upside of a dancer\u2019s life is that I\u2019ve never had to worry about \u201ckeeping up with the Joneses\u201d.\u00a0 The \u201cJoneses\u201d and I are pretty much living on different planets.\u00a0 I will admit that I tend to discourage kids from pursuing a life in dance.\u00a0 If a student is truly passionate about dancing, then they will become a dancer despite the hardships.\u00a0 Those who choose dance as a profession do so because they have to.\u00a0 Either that \u2013 or they\u2019re nuts.<\/p>\n
As I tell my students, my career in dance was probably a perfect example of how NOT to be a professional dancer.\u00a0 Unlike many of my colleagues who after finishing their training joined a company where they remained for their entire active careers, I chose to move from company to company \u2013 dance form to dance form.\u00a0 I always wanted to know what was behind the next door.\u00a0 Despite the fact that moving between dance companies can seriously harm your career (you were supposed to stay in one) \u2013 I managed to survive.<\/p>\n
So back to the question: Who am I?\u00a0 A dancer, which means a bit of an egomaniac.\u00a0 Ballet and other forms of physical activity tend to develop a narcissistic personality.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Have you ever started an exercise program?\u00a0 Do you remember how hard it was to concentrate on yourself and your body for the hour-long workout?\u00a0 Now imagine doing this for six and a half hours a day \u2013 six times a week \u2013 year after year.\u00a0 It\u2019s the \u201cme, me, me\u201d mentality of a five year old.\u00a0 Some of us manage to outgrow this stage of our lives when we retire (although many don\u2019t) and I sometimes wonder if we are ever able to totally free ourselves from it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also socially inept.\u00a0 The world of ballet is not conducive to healthy mental maturing.\u00a0 Ballet is a monarchy.\u00a0 The director is king and you as their subject are to do what you are told.\u00a0 I am still amazed that I rarely opened my mouth to talk until I was twenty-three years old.\u00a0 I would leave after performance receptions feeling quite good about how I carried myself \u2013 only to find out later that I hadn\u2019t spoken a single word.\u00a0 Apparently I had been carrying on all the conversations in my head.\u00a0 Another reason that I have had problems relating to other people (specifically strangers) is that my parents moved every six months (due to my father\u2019s job) until I was nine.\u00a0 Nine years of being the new kid on the block that all other children approached with trepidation and sometimes malice meant that I quickly learned to keep myself amused.<\/p>\n
I am known as a woman who speaks her mind, regardless of the consequences.\u00a0 In an industry full of flatterers and hypocrites, I\u2019ve had to become comfortable with my decision to be honest and frank.\u00a0 Now this does not mean that I am always right and this certainly doesn\u2019t mean that I go out of my way to hurt other people\u2019s feelings.\u00a0 Diplomacy is often essential.\u00a0 A good example would be after I sat through a colleague\u2019s train wreck of a show and he asked me what I thought of his performance.\u00a0 What would you have said?\u00a0 I told him that his costuming choice had really enhanced the entire production – which was true.\u00a0 The first time I saw this production, he was practically naked.\u00a0 I\u2019m not big on the \u201cnaked on stage\u201d thing.\u00a0 I\u2019m telling you \u2013 the sight of his overaged belly giggling over his barely covered private parts really left a lot to be desired.\u00a0 See \u2013 I was honest.\u00a0 I have found that taking the diplomatic route does present its own perils \u2013 especially in an industry where everyone knows each other.\u00a0 All of us have developed little catch phrases that allow us to gracefully function with our fellow artists.\u00a0 While they don\u2019t bluntly reveal your true opinion \u2013 they don\u2019t exactly lie either.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it before\u201d means the performance was so bad that you\u2019re praying that you will never have to see anything like this again.\u00a0 \u201cYou really stood out\u201d means that you were so bloody awful that you stuck out from the rest of the group for all of the wrong reasons.\u00a0 Little compliments like this last for a couple of months but eventually the people around you begin to understand the double entendre and you\u2019re back to searching for a new way to praise the mundane and the mediocre.<\/p>\n
I am always honest and open with my friends, my students and those whom I respect.\u00a0 Friends and close colleagues know that if they really don\u2019t want to know what I think – don\u2019t ask.\u00a0 Please don\u2019t ask.\u00a0 As I tell everyone to whom I am about to give my opinion to:\u00a0 It\u2019s only my opinion; it\u2019s not the truth.\u00a0 It\u2019s my opinion today but it might not be my opinion tomorrow.\u00a0 I reserve the right to change my mind.\u00a0 The only thing that I am certain about is that many of the truths that our society holds dear today will change.\u00a0 I feel lucky to have lived through so many of society\u2019s changes.\u00a0 When I was born blacks still rode at the back of the bus, women were supposed to go to college to find a husband and equality meant behaving like a white male \u2013 versus behaving as yourself.\u00a0 All I know is that the truths that guide us today might not exist a hundred years from now and I\u2019d like to keep an open mind about what is and is not true.\u00a0 To quote Buddha: Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One day I found myself staring at all the eager dance students in my class and sadly shaking my head. All of them were working so hard and all of them had absolutely no idea what they were getting themselves … Continue reading