Training an Artiste (a teacher’s perspective)

Many young and ambitious dancers don’t understand this, but the most famous dancers are never the best dancers.  They are the ones that give producers and directors the least problems.  They are helpful; they do the ‘shit work”; they do it quietly, without asking and with a smile.

As a teacher, I’ve encountered (in my short span of teaching), many dancers and students who pick up steps and techniques very fast.  These bright young dancers are very smart people, and many of them know that.  However, many of them get distracted easily or become over-confident and do not train as hard or take instructions as well as the less talented ones.  They tend to talk or comment a lot, but when it comes down to producing, I always see the quiet, less talented but determined dancers win the show.

Key to Success #1: Be Teachable - humble & willing to listen, able to change to suit the industry’s needs

I just saw a final episode of Heidi Klum’s Project Runway and one of the first episodes of Tyra Bank’s America’s Next Top Model.  What we always see is the same trend in every episode.  In Project Runway, it was the final episode where there were 3 women battling it out on the Runway to win the title.  Of the 3 women, all were talented with their own unique styles, all were amazing designers and artistes in their own right.  But 2 of them were really outspoken, in an impolite way (or bitchy, as we would say in this generation).  They outright argued (impolitely and forcefully) with their advisers who were trying to give them positive feedback to help them improve and grow.  The way they spoke when being interviewed by the camera about these arguments was also very “This is how I feel, I have to go with how I feel so if you don’t agree with me, so be it,  I don’t have to listen to you”.  The way they commented about their competitors was also quite nasty.

The winner of the show was a sweet girl whom you can tell is humble and polite, and not so street smart.  She keeps to herself and is eager for advice and suggestions from the advisers.  Looking back on the designs, I would say that I preferred another girl’s collections and designs; she was a better and maybe more talented designer.  But if I were the company who will be sponsoring and hiring one of them, I would go with the judges’ decision.  Why? Simply because if I am an expert in the market and the business, and I am eager to share the knowledge and help these new designers to grow, I would find the most teachable student.  Skills can be trained; the designer just needs to be pointed in the right direction.  But attitudes are hard to change. 

If I were to sponsor the other girl, how can I teach her when she has already decided that she knows everything there is to learn?  How much effort and time will I waste to argue with her every step of the way just so that she can improve and grow?  How could I trust her with the trade secrets?  How would I know that all the things I sincerely and genuinely share with her would not come back to bite me when she’s unhappy with me and decides to go to the press and my competitors spreading nasty rumors, like the way she talks back to the mentors?  How can she, with the character that she has and the way she talks, represent my company and my name in good light?

In Tyra Bank’s supermodel show, there was one girl who made this statement:  “I’m outspoken by nature and if anybody doesn’t like what I say, so be it”.  You could see in the show later that she complained about everything given to her; from dying her eyebrows, to the make up put on her, to the costumes given to her and the pictures chosen for her to emulate.  She complained about basically everything.  She had one of the strongest pictures in the group but she was nearly sent home because of her poor working attitude.

Key to Success #2: Allow yourself to be Used

How can you teach a person that in order to succeed, you have to give a lot, be willing for others to use you and take advantage of you, even if you are not happy with the storyline, the costumes, the dance steps etc?  As a professional in your field, you make the best of the situation and what’s given to you and do your best, no matter how uncomfortable you feel (not withstanding being made to do sexually provocative things that you never agreed to do, of course).  As an artiste, a supermodel or a designer, you need people to endorse you, or recognize and promote your talent.  In other words, you need people to use you.  If you are not willing to let them make use of you as they see fit, they will simply hire another.  There have been many times when I start a project or choreography with steps that I planned out in advance.  But in the course of doing the project, the director or producers have different ideas, or the dancers are not able to do the steps.  As a commercial choreographer, I have to change my steps to suit their needs, even though it is not what I prefer or what I originally planned to do.

Dancers, models or designers alike are typically commissioned to do projects where they must adhere to a certain costume, theme or make up.  They may be made to wear uncomfortable things, or requested to do moves that they are uncomfortable with.  Their skills are hired to be used.  If they do not have the skills or refuse to do the things requested, the commissioner will just hire another who will do it.  Newsflash: you are paid to do what they want, not what you want; if you don’t give them what they want, they won’t pay you.

Key to Success #3: Teamwork allows you to go further than you can go solo.

A person who is calculative will find it hard to grasp this theory that was shared to me by my mentor: You can choose to make 100% of $10, or make 1% of $10,000.  The former is working solo, and for your own group; the latter is working in a group and helping each other as a team to grow, and taking turns to shine and lead.  Just like a flock of geese flying in a 'v' formation, they save 70% of their strength by flying in a 'v' formation.  By taking turns being in the lead, they take turns bearing the brunt of the resistance they face while flying.  When the lead goose gets tired, it falls back and another takes its place.  By working in a group, we take turns to shine, and take turns to lead.  This makes the work a lot easier to do (with people helping you to get the job done) and the burdens lighter to bear (as you share the load with one another).  You can also go a lot further as a team than as an individual, and this is true in any company.

Key to Success #4: Understand that your teacher may not dance better than you, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t help you become better.

Tiger Woods was one of the best golfers in the world.  He had 3 teachers.  He golfs better than any of them, but with their wealth of experience and understanding of the sport, they can teach him to become better than he already is and beat the rest.  My teacher always says: you don’t judge how good a teacher is by how good he/she dances; you judge how good he/she is by how good his/her students are.

Key to Success #5:  Struggle to stay Teachable, know that anyone can offer you enlightenment, and most of all, be patient and don't loose sight of your goal.

As a dancer, I know that one of the hardest things is that it’s very hard to keep improving once you reach a really high standard.  Simply because there are lesser and lesser things to correct, and those things that are easy to correct and achieve have already been corrected and cleared, leaving only the difficult things left to master.  When you first start, it takes 10% of your effort to achieve 90% the desired goal; as you progress on to the highest levels, it will take 99% of your effort to achieve 1% of your goal.  That last 10% is especially hard to achieve.

As a teacher, I’ve come to realize that most people cannot take the training to realize even 70% of their potential.  Majority will stop after realizing their 10 - 20% mark.  The self-proclaimed die-hards will be able to realize 40 - 50% of their goal.  There will be 1 or 2 exceptionals who will be able to push beyond that 50%, and these gems come once every 2 - 3 years.

Why is it so tough?  Ego is one point, and perseverance is another.

Perseverance

Thomas Edison experimented with thousands of materials, including hair from his beard, to finally hit on a fibre that could produce light economically.  It’s very hard to persevere to do the same step everyday, failing 99% of the times for 2 years just to get it finally right after 2 years.  Most people give up just after 1 month.  Figure skaters train everyday for 2 years to do a double loop (jump); ballet dancers train their balance and posture for 5  years before doing a single pirouette; gymnasts train for years to master a certain skill; martial artistes do the same. 

It is a boring, long and tiring process if you don’t know how to appreciate it.  The minute details gets more and more important, as the step gets harder and harder.  That’s why I find teaching very useful:  I have a group of people to train with me everyday and I can structure the class to suit my training...  In fact, my students are often my teachers as I learn from them what not to do, and what may be better to do.

Ego

Many dancers get so much praise (both genuine and non-genuine ones) by the time they hit their 40% mark that they become satisfied with that.  They also start to slow down in terms of progressing as it becomes harder to improve (because it takes 60% of your effort to produce 40% of your goal as compared to previous goals where it took 30% effort to achieve 70% of your goal).  Many dancers get impatient here and feel that there is nothing left for them to learn and grow.

Once they hit a certain standard, many people will look up to them and idolize them.  All these attention will distract them, and if they let it go to their heads, they will start thinking that they have all the answers and will stop listening to their teachers’ suggestions and advice, as with the contestants on Project Runway.  At this point, when the teacher tries to teach the student, he may argue or think that he knows better, and at times subconsciously do the step wrong to prove that the teacher is wrong.  When the ego gets in the way, nothing the teacher says will have effect, and the student stays stagnant because he doesn’t listen.  When this happens, the student may then convince himself that the teacher has nothing more to teach him.

I have encountered this from both sides of the coin: I have been that egoistic student and I have also been that exasperated teacher.  I was really lucky to have a teacher that refused to give up on me and tried (despite all the nonsense I gave him) to show me reason.  I didn’t really understand it all (still I did as he said anyway), but I only truly understood what he meant when I was in his shoes, teaching these students who did not appreciate nor understand what I was trying to tell them.

One of the most disheartening things as a teacher is when I put my heart and soul into teaching them and it eventually turns on me when I can tell that they don’t appreciate it.  I always have to tell myself to let go and move on when they don’t appreciate it anymore, and find others who will.  And for one student that disappoints, there are 10 more who will appreciate what I can give to them.

Of course, there are also many sides to a story and this is merely one side... *shrug*

Sometimes, we get a little lost in life. 
Sometimes, we don't see the reason why. 
Sometimes, we get tired of it all.

Hold on, hang on, you'll see the light.
Hold on, hang tight, you'll reap the reward.

Sometimes, people disappoint.
Sometimes, things don't go the way you want.
Sometimes, giving up seems like the best option.

Hold on, hang on, you'll pull through.
Hold on, hang tight, you'll succeed.

It's just a little while more,
It's just a little bit longer,
You'll make it through it all,
You'll make it through alright.

Fears, Failures and Set Backs are a Part of Life.

Back in 2006, when I made the decision to forgo by Honors 3 weeks before my exams, my main concern was whether I would regret that decision for the rest of my life.  It was pure irony (and thanks to the ridiculous grading system) that I had 3 Fs in my final year and merely dropped from a high 2nd-lower to a low 2nd-lower grade in my bachelors degree.

My main reason for dropping out from honors was that I didn't have time to study, and I had to reject many overseas assignments due to the fact that I was studying and could not concentrate fully on my dance career.  But when I stopped school, there seemed to be a lull in overseas offers.  It seemed terrifying for a few months, when it seemed like I may have dropped school for nothing.

But I trudged on despite my fears.  I continued teaching classes like I used to, and I also took on more responsibilities in the school in terms of admin duties and such.  For a while, it kinda seemed like I dropped honors to work an administrative job,  rather than to further my career in dance.  I prayed and hoped and worked hard; perhaps dropping out of school early forced me to work harder to prove everyone wrong...

Things seemed really slow at the beginning of the year just when I stopped school, but eventually (and it took 6 months to 1 year) my efforts paid off.  I was invited to numerous cities to teach and perform.  My efforts did not go to waste, and the decision to drop out of school was a good one.  In the 'slow' period, it may have seemed like my decision to stop school was a bad one, but what I was actually doing during that time was laying the foundations to go international.  The hours spent doing admin work, answering phone calls, teaching more classes, etc was actually preparing me to be an artiste. 

I packed and cleaned the school, did lots of 'dirty' work, answered a lot of sales calls and taught many classes... These trained my personality and character to be like an artiste: I was not afraid of hard or dirty work; I developed a character to 'I can do it anytime' rather than 'why me?'; I developed my skill and charisma as a teacher and dancer in classes.  As such, I was an asset as an artiste in overseas festivals and congresses: I was ready to perform and teach many kinds of dances whenever they needed me to (it was usually last minute); my hours doing sales calls allowed me to be able to talk to many dancers to participate in the festivals and events; I could stand waiting long hours for businesses to be conducted (into the wee hours of 6am in the morning) or grueling schedules of teaching 2 - 4 hours of classes the whole day followed by a performance that night and a party after that...

The training I received in the school helped me to be able to do all that and more.  And in hind sight, I can guess that anyone who has not been through the training I received would not have been able to experience half of what I got to experience.

Hard work and experiencing failures are important and crucial to Success.

Many people can't see that the 'dirty' work is a part of the 'glorious' work.  Without all the slogging away, I wouldn't have been able to become the kind of artiste I am today.  Without all the chances I was given to build and teach and perform, and especially all the opportunities I was given to fail in the school (where the consequences were not as big), I would not have been such a success overseas.  Without all the scolding I received from my teacher, I would not have been able to take hard and serious training by top artistes under high pressure and limited time.  A diamond that is uncut is just a dull rock.  The cutting process is grueling, painful and dirty, but the finished product is beautiful, and worth the effort. 

Throughout the process of my 'cutting', I had many fears, worries, doubts and failures.  There were classes I did not teach well; there were events that I did not manage well; there were crucial errors that I overlooked.  Setbacks, fears and worries are a part of living a full life.  Success not doing something or becoming someone without failure; success is daring to do something or become someone despite the failures.  “Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. For now you are traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be.” - Meg Cabot

There are many 'what ifs' in life's road.  If we let ourselves get bogged down by these 'what ifs', we will not be able to live a full life.  To me, what is important is that I live as full a life that I can lead, without compromising my integrity and principals.  When it comes to smarts, I'm not the smartest, neither am I the most ambitious.  However, I am very determined to keep learning, keep growing and keep giving my best.  As such, things may set me back a little, but if I am willing and patient, I will conquer it and become better because of it.

30 Years from Now...

Young people tend to live in the now.  Our lives are revolved around today and at this present moment.  Many times, we just do what feels best now.  I find that whenever I succumb to my feelings in the present, I often miss out on the good that I could have done at that moment for my future.

There's a popular quote from the bible: So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  I'm not actually contradicting this quote, and I'm not saying that we should worry about tomorrow.  What I'm saying is that we should always keep in mind that our actions today will affect our tomorrows.  Throwing temper at a loved one today could result in many unpleasant tomorrows.  Not completing a crucial task today may result in a very stressed tomorrow.

Someone wise just told me recently... always think 30 years.  30 years from now, what do you see yourself doing?  Where do you see yourself going?  He said that young people tend to be influenced by present feelings, emotions and talk from themselves and friends.  These may lead to decisions that seem good and logical in the short run (it settles a short term problem), but may be harmful in the long run (it may affect what you become in the future).  By thinking 30 years ahead, it can help you to keep on the path that you want to get on, and it can help you to make the right decisions and not be easily swayed by the easy solution that can solve short term problems but be detrimental to you in the long run.

So think about it:
What kind of person do you see yourself as, 30 years from now?
Who do you see yourself (friends? family?) surrounded by 30 years from now?
What do you see yourself doing 30 years from now?
And 30 years from now, would you have been pleased that you made this decision or would you have regretted your choice?

I think it's worth a thought. =)

Lead & Follow Using Tai-Chi Theory

Learning to lead and follow tends to bring you a myriad of thoughts, emotions and expressions to dancing.

What makes a best leader or a best follower?

We had a discussion today leading to the concept of following like doing Tai Chi, whereby you take the force/momentum/direction of your leader and run along with it (not fight), adding your own force together with it to make you go faster. (in pure physics terms, force A + force B going along in the same direction will make the force bigger).

Following is like that. You don't fight him when he wants you to go somewhere. Instead, you take it and go along with it, adding your own force gradually to make the going easier and faster. In the event that he leads you askew or off balance, you take that force, use your own additional force to reroute it if possible, or exert some opposing force to diffuse the unwanted force so that you can go to the desired location he intends to lead you. It's about channeling the force he gives you to the right outlets.

As a follower, I instinctively 'help' my partner like this. If he leads me too forcefully, I diffuse the force by relaxing my tension a bit or increasing my tension to be harder so that I don't get yanked around by him. If he leads me off balance, I re-channel the force he gives to bring myself back where he wants me to go. If he doesn't lead me hard enough, I run with him, adding my own force behind so that I end up where he wants me to go.

An then we realized that it works the same for a leader as well. If she doesn't respond well to you (in terms of following), there are a few ways you can respond to it. First option is to use direct force to block her moves and counter with you own (what I call bulldozing or force-leading your way through). This usually ends up with the 2 of you fighting with each other, feeling very exhausted at the end of the dance. The leader typically has to bulldoze until the follower gives up and decides to follow because she has no strength left to fight.

Second option is to employ the Tau Chi method: use her force and momentum and add on to it, re-routing and re-channeling her movements to where you want her to go. For this, you have to let her move, flow with her, then spring a 'surprise' on her by using her momentum and pushing her into an additional turn or a different position.

This is similar to Tai Chi when you use your opponent's momentum and turn it around to hit him back. The advantage is that you do not need to be very strong in order to succeed. However, you do need to be able to react and think fast or you would not be able to execute the moves you desire.

At the end of the day, what's important is that partner dancing (eg salsa or tango) is a PARTNER dance. You need to connect and flow together as one in order for it to work. Good leaders/followers are those that are constantly in tune with their partners. They ADAPT to the changes in lead/follow. They understand that when they are leading/following, their partners need to respond to them as a whole (they lead/follow with their whole body, not just move the hands but leave the body behind). It there is no response, they need to change tactics until there is a positive response.

How do we get there? First and foremost, you need to practice doing this. You need to attentively do this every time you dance. This practice must become second nature to you when you dance. The alarm bells in your head should ring if it doesn't feel like your 2 bodies are flowing as one.

On the other hand, even if it feels rough and out of sync, it may still look good, it you cover up well... =)

Hope this helps... or issit too chim?