Sunday To-Do
One of the most powerful tools dancers have is their brain.
No surprise here. That’s true for “normal” humans as well. It is how we think
about things that makes or breaks the outcome.
Dancers tend to be a rather pessimistic lot, and I’m not
sure why. Perhaps it is the constant striving for an unattainable perfection,
or perhaps naturally perfectionistic, pessimistic individuals gravitate to
ballet. I don’t know. But I do know that changing one’s mindset is powerful –
and necessary.
For example, when working on a particularly challenging
step, beware of telling yourself what not
to do: “Don’t bend the leg”; “don’t look
at the floor”; “don’t take little steps”, etc. Instead, each of these directives can be
reworked: “Straighten the knee”; “Lift and
focus upward”; “Take big steps”… you get the idea.
Practice telling yourself what to do and watch out for opposite thoughts. This is helpful for
teachers , too. It is difficult, but not impossible, to remember that
students should receive positive directives most of the time.
Thinking this way isn’t always easy, but like everything
else in dance, practice makes permanent.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Motivational Secret #77:
“Focus on what to do,
instead of what not to do.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
““Instruction does much, but encouragement
everything."
(Letter to A.F. Oeser, Nov. 9, 1768)”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Early and Miscellaneous Letters of J. W. Goethe: Including Letters to His Mother. With Notes and a Short Biography
(Letter to A.F. Oeser, Nov. 9, 1768)”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Early and Miscellaneous Letters of J. W. Goethe: Including Letters to His Mother. With Notes and a Short Biography
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