My Practice - What being a dancer means...?

Sadly I was unable to attend last week’s skype session where the discussion of our professional practice had students reflecting on their practice. When being asked to write about ‘your practice’ I instantly panicked, as for me, my practice changes constantly. I definitely know dancing is what I do, it’s what I’ve trained in the majority of my life and there is no denying my love and passion for it. However, over the past 2 years I notice myself feeling mixed emotions about my practice and where I belong in it. By this I mean, I compare myself to many other dancers and performers constantly – as most people do, and I see clear distinct areas of dance they are phenomenal at. For me in the back of my mind I’m telling myself I need to know my skillset and what specific area of dance I am best in, so I can label myself as a certain type of dancer or at least know I have serious confidence in a particular style. Which I think is also why I have put off auditions for jobs within the industry as I am not sure if that particular job is suited for me as I am not phenomenal in the set style – even though usually when reflecting back on previous experiences, I can hold my own ground. 

Throughout the past 2 years I have had incredible influences around me including teachers, friends and family who tell me, to be a dancer you do not need to be amazing in one certain style to succeed. You need to be able to adapt to all styles of dance and art forms to be able to gain knowledge and understanding in all fields of dance, and show your potential in any dance job, along with proving your politeness and professionalism. Looking back, I COMPLETELY AGREE! 

After reading some/ pretty much everyone’s blog posts on their professional practice, I see that this completely justifies what it means by ‘being able to adapt’ within your practice. It’s evident that ‘our practice is not just the title of a job you do’ quoted in Adesola’s blog post, because I am constantly learning within it, I nearly always compare myself to others, and am so judgemental of myself. But that is how I grow as a dancer, I pick apart technique, musicality and performance so I am the best version of the dancer I am. So even if there is no definite definition of my practice I know this is not negative because I in fact love adding things to my practice, and my newest element is aerial hoop, silks and rope, and by mixing these art forms together with dance I can see similarities within the artistry, musicality and physicality of the movements – it helps identify areas of strength I need to develop, but compliments my performance quality well. 

So what I think I’m trying to say is, you can have more than one skill within your practice and might still be learning new areas of interest within it. Just because I might not be at my peak yet with my confidence, technique, experience in auditions and job offers within my practice does not mean I am no good at it. Life is a learning curve and I feel like I need to always look for positives within it. I just want to say how my professional practice is still developing along with my confidence and understanding of what being a dancer means. 

Please feel free to comment, let me know what you think and if you agree or relate in any way!