Dancers and Insecurity

Have you ever met a dancer that wasn't insecure some of the time? Maybe their first teacher was Raquia Hassan (sp?), maybe they were thin, pretty, had gorgeous costumes, and were the envy of their peers. Why on earth would they feel insecure? Doesn't matter, because it happens to everyone.

It is like the curly haired girl in high school who ironed her hair, and the straight haired girl getting perms all the time. I guess it is our society,but we usually want to be what we aren't. Not all the time,but occassionally it happens to all of us because we are human.

I will tell you what someone told me once. It is what I tell myself whenever my head starts going in that direction.

1. Dance where you are. This can mean many things, but at its most basic, it means, don't iron your curly hair....WORK THAT CURLY HAIR! Don't try to curl your stick straight hair...TOSS THAT GORGEOUS HAIR AROUND! Be where you are, and be it with flair.

2. Be who you are. I had a friend who tried very hard to like cabaret. She took classes, and tried different teachers and couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. Finally she figured out that while she loved to dance, and appreciated cabaret, it just wasn't HER. She took an ATS class, and fell in love. She played around with dance enough without giving up to finally learn what fit her best. So if you are into small movements then do those, if you like cabaret shimmies, but fusion arms, then combine the two. Dance is fluid, and open to interpretation. Let who you are shine through.

I fretted and fussed with what kind of dancer I was for a long time. I worried that I wasn't doing enough traveling steps, or that my facial expressions were too serious. I would feel good for a moment,but the minute another dancer came along that I percieved as better, I would lose my confidence.

One day I saw the same thing happen in a dancer that I respected. I watched her confidence fade for a moment, and heard her question herself. She had been dancing since I was a toddler, and for a moment none of that mattered as she questioned herself. As I saw it play out, I realized that being human makes us suseptible to that sort of internal questioning. I really think it is normal,but it is what we DO with it that counts. If we let it break our confidence in the beautiful individuality that we have for more than a moment, then we need to tell that voice to take a hike.

We all have something to offer.