This is something that I am always talking about with my friends, and laugh about as it becomes so predictable, and is just something you have to put up with when you’re a dancer.
When you tell someone you are a dancer you always seem to get a lot of the same reactions, and we can probably all predict the sort of things someone will say to you. You get the normal ones like, oh can you do the splits? You must be able to get your leg up high? Show us some dance moves then!
Well unfortunately for those who ask the questions it doesn’t work like that. Yes we probably can do the things you are asking but that doesn’t mean we want to show you and start kicking are leg up in the air for you, or leap across the room and do a load of pirouettes.
The other really annoying thing I find is when you tell someone your studying dance, you always get the same reaction and the is. Oh well that isn’t a real subject, it’s so easy compared to me doing a real subject like maths, English, science, teaching, etc. Well guess what it is a real thing and isn’t all about us dancing around in a studio! Yes we spend a lot of time in the dance studio but it’s not just fun and games, it’s hard work and tiring! You try spending all day rehearsing with small breaks then going back to full on fitness and rehearsals.
We also have other subjects to study within dance, we do science (biology) where we have to learn the anatomy of the body, bones, joints, muscles, how it all works and about injuries and how to prevent and treat them. We learn about nutrition and what to eat and how to look after your body, we also have to do the history of dance and look right back to the beginning where it all began, through the years up until now and learning about every choreography who developed these different dance styles.
We have business too and guess what that involves maths, we learn how to set up a company/business in dance. How to build that business and working with money, knowing how to handle it, etc. If you want to go on to teach dance you have to do English as well and know how to plan lessons, just like you would with normal teaching in schools. And there is so much more going on, behind the scenes of what you see out on stage or on TV.
So it’s not just what you see on stage and in films, a lot more goes in to dance behind closed doors. A lot of long hard work is needed to be put in before you see the final piece on stage that you say looks easy. Well I wish it was easy as it really isn’t, it takes years of training, dedication and hard work before you get it looking easy.
It takes a lot to be a dancer despite what people say and think. And is a real and proper career. If you chose to take the path of dancing professionally on stage, you will find that you have to retire by the age of 40. This is due to the amount of strain and pressure you have put your body through over the years, it can’t perform at the level that is needed.
You learn a lot of self-discipline, and to deal with a lot of rejection. You won’t always get that part or job you audition for, maybe because someone else can kick higher, or do more turns than you. But you brush it off and carry on! We put our bodies through so much and forcing your body to do things it’s not naturally made to do. Your joints aren’t made to be stretched that much, and be put through what we do. One injury can put you out of your job for life!
So never underestimate a dancer, and what we put ourselves and our bodies through day in and day out. All to do what we love and have such a passion for! We dance to express not to impress!
When you tell someone you are a dancer you always seem to get a lot of the same reactions, and we can probably all predict the sort of things someone will say to you. You get the normal ones like, oh can you do the splits? You must be able to get your leg up high? Show us some dance moves then!
Well unfortunately for those who ask the questions it doesn’t work like that. Yes we probably can do the things you are asking but that doesn’t mean we want to show you and start kicking are leg up in the air for you, or leap across the room and do a load of pirouettes.
The other really annoying thing I find is when you tell someone your studying dance, you always get the same reaction and the is. Oh well that isn’t a real subject, it’s so easy compared to me doing a real subject like maths, English, science, teaching, etc. Well guess what it is a real thing and isn’t all about us dancing around in a studio! Yes we spend a lot of time in the dance studio but it’s not just fun and games, it’s hard work and tiring! You try spending all day rehearsing with small breaks then going back to full on fitness and rehearsals.
We also have other subjects to study within dance, we do science (biology) where we have to learn the anatomy of the body, bones, joints, muscles, how it all works and about injuries and how to prevent and treat them. We learn about nutrition and what to eat and how to look after your body, we also have to do the history of dance and look right back to the beginning where it all began, through the years up until now and learning about every choreography who developed these different dance styles.
We have business too and guess what that involves maths, we learn how to set up a company/business in dance. How to build that business and working with money, knowing how to handle it, etc. If you want to go on to teach dance you have to do English as well and know how to plan lessons, just like you would with normal teaching in schools. And there is so much more going on, behind the scenes of what you see out on stage or on TV.
So it’s not just what you see on stage and in films, a lot more goes in to dance behind closed doors. A lot of long hard work is needed to be put in before you see the final piece on stage that you say looks easy. Well I wish it was easy as it really isn’t, it takes years of training, dedication and hard work before you get it looking easy.
It takes a lot to be a dancer despite what people say and think. And is a real and proper career. If you chose to take the path of dancing professionally on stage, you will find that you have to retire by the age of 40. This is due to the amount of strain and pressure you have put your body through over the years, it can’t perform at the level that is needed.
You learn a lot of self-discipline, and to deal with a lot of rejection. You won’t always get that part or job you audition for, maybe because someone else can kick higher, or do more turns than you. But you brush it off and carry on! We put our bodies through so much and forcing your body to do things it’s not naturally made to do. Your joints aren’t made to be stretched that much, and be put through what we do. One injury can put you out of your job for life!
So never underestimate a dancer, and what we put ourselves and our bodies through day in and day out. All to do what we love and have such a passion for! We dance to express not to impress!