Blogpost 9 : It Takes a Lot of Effort

I once thought that being a great dancer is having the knowledge of all genres of dance: ballroom, hiphop, funk, popping and etc. But I was wrong. It takes a lot of effort to become a great and professional dancer.

 Before I joined APCDC, I have gone through deep realizations and doubts: if I can handle my time, or if I can balance dance and academics. I also thought that in joining the dance company is just learning dance routines and practicing for competitions and performance request. But when the time that I got in, I realized I was wrong. Joining in dance crews or dance companies, you must go through trainings first to become very successful. You must also push and strive harder not just for yourself but also for your dance family as well.

I found an article entitled “The Alexander Technique: It’s Role in Dance Training” by Glenna Batson in alexandertechnique. The article is all about Alexander’s technique in dance training coordination. It also conveys information of the main points that dancers usually train for better movement.

“Traditionally, various dance techniques have evolved out of the stylistic (muscular effort) preferences of their inventors --- the "Vaganova" technique, after the famous ballerina Agippa Vaganova, the "Graham" technique, after modern dance pioneer Martha Graham, and so forth. Ideally, the dancer's training goes beyond attempts to mold the dancer to a certain style or set of neuromuscular patterns. Instead of simply looking "right" or doing the movement "correctly," the dancer learns to move from an embodied source -- fully receptive and responsive to the moment of movement. Such training frees the dancer from rigid holding patterns or other constraints that bind thought, feeling, and action. The emergence of somatic approaches and "release" techniques, and their incorporation into dance training supports the trend toward finding more free, autonomous ways of moving.”

I totally agree with the author’s statement in this article that dance training results a molded dancer into a certain style of dance. Knowing myself as a dancer, dance training has given me so much improvement as a person starting from amateur to a professional. And I can say this article push me further for excellence in my talent, which is dance.

Another article that I found that is similar to the other one is entitled “The Truth About Well Rounded Dancers” by Nichelle in danceadvantage. The articles entails what it takes to be a well-rounded dancer and facts and myths about it. There are some facts that really informed a lot which are, “One hour of solid, well-thought training in a single dance form is better than ten hours of experience, Training, whether focusing on ballet, contemporary, jazz, or tap techniques can always be built upon with the addition of other styles, An experience can rock your world but it can’t substitute for consistent effort and instruction, Good training roots exposure and experience, and allows versatility to flower.”

It indeed takes a lot of effort to be the person you wanted to be. Don’t just easily give up. Push yourself towards but always keep your feet on the ground. Success can be taken step by step and cannot be easily achieved without effort. You must learn to value what you love and develop what you want to do. Just work hard and dance hard.