(2min read)
Having been part of the DanceSport industry for over 20 years and spending the majority of our time inside the studio’s four walls, this is the question we keep asking ourselves – “Are we artists or athletes, or are we both”?
We feel like this question is different for everyone’s dancing journey. For example, suppose you are working on how to close your feet for the first time. In that case, you may not be focusing on expressing yourself initially, but focus on the action and repetition of closing your feet - then we feel the answer to our question is - athlete. However, if you’ve mastered the move and can repeat it continuously, then the question opens of: “How exactly are you closing your feet through time and music?” and the answer is – artist.
Personally, for a long time as a couple, we only focused on the action and repetition, maybe even perfection in a way, but we found that every time we could improve something else. So we got stuck in a LOOP of trying to search for perfection without realising it. Perfection suggests a state of flawless without any shortcomings. If we think about it, every practice, every lesson, and every competition outing, you are developing something new and something slightly different. Therefore, change is for the better, which means that it will never be a perfect natural turn, competition, or performance. Did we make you look outside that repeating LOOP we mentioned earlier?
Coming back to athlete vs. artist, we find that it is impossible to have one without the other. At times one will be more predominantly critical in your dancing journey, but at the end of the day, it will never be perfect, and that’s okay because as long as it is getting better, you should try to find some comfort and feel content with the process.
Thought of the week: Are you an athlete or artist today, and what about yesterday and tomorrow?