Despite the fact that I advocate Dance as an artistic form of expression above and beyond anything else, the fact is, I am a trained dancer as well which means that I have gone through years of formal, technical training (especially in ballet). Anyone who has undergone such training will understand the importance of perfecting technique above anything else - the training is rigid, tough and inflexible: but is a vital part of a dancer's journey. (And we all love it)
Last night I attended the last part of a 3 night course of Flamenco dancing in which we were privileged enough to have a flamenco artist from spain instruct us. Admittedly I struggled with the bulerias and the timing and I'm sure I had a puzzled look on my face for most of the time as I tried to make my feet move quickly enough to the fast and syncopated rhythm and I was constantly frustrated with my inability to perform the steps perfectly.
It was at one of these points that the teacher turned to face us and said, "I had hoped by now you would be enjoying the dancing, but you are not. You are all worried about the steps and thinking what is coming next and you are not enjoying it. Remember, dancing is about enjoying and feeling the movement - just move and feel beautiful - the steps will come - this is flamenco!"
I breathed a sigh of reflief. This is what I always say, and yet in the heat of the moment, in the class, I had once again become a young perfectionist, caught up in technique, but lost all feeling. I remembered quickly why I had come to the workshops and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the class: despite my completely messed up footwork!
Last night I attended the last part of a 3 night course of Flamenco dancing in which we were privileged enough to have a flamenco artist from spain instruct us. Admittedly I struggled with the bulerias and the timing and I'm sure I had a puzzled look on my face for most of the time as I tried to make my feet move quickly enough to the fast and syncopated rhythm and I was constantly frustrated with my inability to perform the steps perfectly.
It was at one of these points that the teacher turned to face us and said, "I had hoped by now you would be enjoying the dancing, but you are not. You are all worried about the steps and thinking what is coming next and you are not enjoying it. Remember, dancing is about enjoying and feeling the movement - just move and feel beautiful - the steps will come - this is flamenco!"
I breathed a sigh of reflief. This is what I always say, and yet in the heat of the moment, in the class, I had once again become a young perfectionist, caught up in technique, but lost all feeling. I remembered quickly why I had come to the workshops and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the class: despite my completely messed up footwork!
No comments:
Post a Comment