If things did not challenge you, they wouldn't change you - Dance Saturday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
Sorry for not posting on Wednesday. I had a post already written up for that day, but I left it too late during the day to publish it so it might go up on Monday instead.
However, today I wanted to talk about challenges and how they can help you to grow in the dance world, as well as in your everyday life. For the past few weeks, as I've mentioned before, I've been practising my lifts in dance and they are very challenging. I'm not the most muscular, well-built dancer anyone has ever seen so when it comes down to executing lifts, I really struggle to do it. I know I have to use my core and lift my partner in a particular way in order to lift them properly, but I find that rock 'n' roll music is quite fast and I can't always keep up. I am having fun and I am enjoying the dancing but I feel like I'm forgetting quite a few of the steps.
In the past, I've always been quite good at remembering the steps of the dance. In secondary school, we did quite a lot of jazz-themed dances that were quite fast and technical, as well as some contemporary numbers that we performed on chairs, and although it was all quite difficult at first, in the end I was able to do it right. Similarly with my dance classes outside of school, although there were times when the choreography we learnt in either street dance or ballroom and Latin was quite difficult, with more repetition, I was able to master the steps eventually. However, I've found that with certain aspects of the IB dance curriculum that I've experienced so far, the requirements of each dancer have been on a completely different level. I've especially seen it in the lifts because I've found that I'm really struggling to get it right and I am finding it challenging as a result.
However, there are many things that dance teaches you to do. Through dance I have found a new sense of confidence through performing my art form, I've learnt the technique of different styles of dance, and I've learnt how to sell my performance. However, in addition to this, I've also learnt how to embrace new challenges and accept the fact that I'm still a work in progress. Lifts take years to learn how to do well so I should cut myself a bit of slack for learning how to lift other dancers in the space of less than a month. If I was also just practising all the movements that I've done previously I would never get anywhere. In order to become better you've got to be willing to reach for better things and those better things are only going to be found outside your bubble of comfort. This is why I'm accepting the challenge of learning how to lift and how to rock 'n' roll because yes, it is outside my bubble of comfort and it is completely different to anything else that I've done before but it is going to transform me into a better dancer.
So for now, I'm going to be pliéing in second and working my core muscles in the morning, in order to master the technique!
Have you ever done any lifts? What's the most challenging things that you've ever done? Let me know in the comments below (or via Instagram/Facebook) and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
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See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
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