The Dance and Life Entanglement

Over the past 20 plus years, I've had students in my class, and I can tell a lot about someone's personality based on how they dance. I always say, "You dance the way you live your life."

If someone was timid and shy in their class approach, that always indicated the same personality when we talked after class.

If a student danced too ridged and ahead of the beat, that meant they were anxious and didn't know how to trust themselves. They cared more about doing it rather than sitting back and listening.

And I could always tell when a female dancer was too nice of a person and was afraid to speak up for themselves because they feared they might offend someone.

When I regularly taught dance class, I had everyone do an across-the-floor exercise of just walking to the beat. This one simple practice was the ultimate exposer of dancers.

Imagine doing something you do every day, such as walking and NOT looking or feeling confident? How can the dancer expect to feel confident when they begin to learn choreography? They won't. Not to say they can't, but at that moment, it's doubtful they will feel strong and sure of themselves dancing the choreography.

Dance and Life are interchangeable. They both require Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual understanding to improve. Unfortunately, most dancers only focus on the physical component instead of all the other elements to becoming a GREAT dancer and a great human.

If you're an aspiring professional dancer or creative, start taking inventory of the other factors besides the physical one. Ask yourself these questions to see where you're at on your journey to improvement.

• Mental Questions:
• Am I clear on the result? What outcome do I want?
• On a scale from 1 - 10, how confident do I feel about myself and my abilities?
• What internal dialogue do I tell myself about myself? Is it negative self-talk or positive?
• Emotional Questions:
• How do I feel about my goals/ dreams? Am I anxious and fearful, or am I excited and happy about the process?
• Do I love what I'm doing? If not, what part of the journey doesn't feel right?
• Resilience is an emotional skill. How can I become more resilient?
• Spiritual Questions:
• Am I making decisions out of fear or faith?
• How can I begin to have and live in faith that all my good is now given?
• Listening to your personal Truth is also a skill. How do I listen to my Truth & Wisdom?
• Physical Questions:
• What skills am I really excellent at? And what skills do I need to improve?
• Who are the BEST teachers and mentors I have access to?
• Am I showing up enough to improve my skills, and am I showing up consistently?

To be truly remarkable in your art also requires you to be exceptional in your Life. The road to improving your dance abilities will undoubtedly advance you as a person.

Are you ready and willing to reevaluate who you are and your approach?

I promise focusing on the internal work will help you make gains quicker and easier on the physical plain.

With lots of LOVE,

Teresa