It had struck me when the soloist of the company had whipped
out 6 pirouettes en pointe, effortlessly, without a moment of hesitation, and
looked like it was the easiest and most fun thing in the world. I had asked
myself: ‘what is it that makes her turn like that?!’… No, before we jump to
conclusions, ‘the answer is not sushi’ … but ‘FEARLESS’.
A few
months ago, I had decided to make a move into finding another job. Somewhere
where I knew I could grow artistically and professionally, hopefully without any
external financial support. Any dancer can recognise that this is easier said
than done. The process is pretty standard: including countless auditions, added
pressure, facing competition from all around the world, a lot of the time just
to fight for that one contract the company has to offer. A lot of the time,
this might not necessarily mean the person with the most talent would be the one
getting the job in the first place. A job could be offered simply because you
fit in the company’s criteria, for example if you are the right height, or you
have the right look that the director opts for a certain production.
Connections with teacher, choreographers, directors and common relations are
also very important when reaching out for opportunities. But, in my experience,
I feel that it is a lot about being in the right place at the right time. Many
would describe it as ‘luck’, but I would say that ‘being at the right place’
means, being in the right state of mind.
Even in
failure; that means, to be able to accept rejection, realise that path perhaps
was not meant for you, and have the courage to stay strong, confident and look
forward to the next opportunity that comes your way. A little birdy, being my
father, once told me that if you put your full heart into something, the hard
work will pay off, as long as you truly believe in yourself. If it’s not this
door, it could very well be the next bigger one. It may seem so that, I have
achieved this mentality, however, as failure is something that any performer-
or any person really, will encounter more than once in their life, it is
definitely something I need to keep reminding myself.
What has
sparked my interest in focussing on this idea of overcoming your fears has to come from a question raised by a
fellow BAPP colleague, Megan,
mentioning the importance of taking
risks, after having gone through the same journey of taking a risk by
leaving her job, which I really salute her for her bravery.
This has
also been a major topic discussed with peers and friends, which go through
these emotional trails day to day in their careers, including myself.
WHAT is
stopping us from taking risk in class, reaching out for more turns, aiming for
higher jumps and higher goals in our career?
IS IT fear?
WHAT is fear?
Do we base
our decisions on fear, if yes, WHY is that?
I could do
this forever. Raising questions like these to myself has really helped me
direct the course of my focus point in my studies, aiming towards what I feel
more passionate about. However, it has also done just that- raised so many
questions that I just can’t wait to dig deeper into exploring in my Second
Module! I feel that I can relate into my own past experiences to analyse this
idea of ‘fear’ and hopefully this will help me as well as influence performers,
choreographers and directors and help them into overcoming any difficulty in
their career that they might face.
Themes I
would love to relate my work to would be
-Breaking
boundaries
-Inovation
vs Tradition
-Fear of
change
-‘Safe
Place’
I will be
aiming to relate my research through past experiences of my own (WBL-Work Based
Learning), as well as dancers/performers/leaders in order to achieve an all
rounded result. Below I have included a
link to Megan Louch’s Blog, which I believe will be very interesting to read
and learn from!
references:
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