Hello my loyal blog readers! It has been a while since my last post as I have been traveling like crazy with dance the last month. In the past 3 weeks I have adjudicated over 2000 dances, taught to over 500 dancers, and met so many wonderful people I can't even keep count. I will be honest, I almost didn't write a post this week because I have a million things to do to get ready to head back out of town to teach, then it dawned on me that that was exactly the subject I needed to write about...excuses.
At every Nationals I worked this summer there were FREE classes offered. At every FREE class about 1/16 of the dancers competing showed up. Since when did class become un-important? Prior to class or after class, I would ask dancers if they were coming to class later or, why they didn't come to class out of curiosity as to why, any dancer wanting to better themselves, would miss the opportunity to take a FREE class and, the responses I got were "I competed today already", "I was at the pool","I am tired", "None of my friends were going"...excuses.
Above competition, class is NUMBER ONE. You can not compete and expect to do your best if you have not trained in class. When presented with the opportunity to take class, take class. Especially FREE class. Any class, no matter what, will benefit you and help you grow. Why? Because every class is taught by a teacher, someone who wants to educate you with their knowledge and, in dance, knowledge is your biggest strength.
Class is not always accessible. It can be pricey, or far away, or there are conflicts, I get it. But when there is a chance for you to take a class and it is accessible to you, drop the excuses and go.
“If it is important to you you will find a way, if not you will find an excuse.”
To say you want to be a serious dancer means that you will be serious in your training. Class first, everything else is second. NO EXCUSES.
This is exactly what I reminded myself of when I was starting to make excuses for not writing my blog this week. I am passionate about sharing my love for dance. I will make the time and the effort because I love it.
I hope you all are having a great summer. Mostly I hope that you are taking class and soaking in every opportunity you can to dance. If you competed this summer at Nationals, CONGRATS! I hope you learned a ton and made memories that will stay in your heart forever. The "adjudication" you got and the "place" you won doesn't matter. The critiques you received and the inspiration you got from dancing around others who share your passion does matter.
There are still many more weeks of summer left...get to class. :)
Follow me on Instagram or Facebook to see where I will be teaching @lizbdance and keep your eyes out for a new technique blog and video coming soon!
Take Care of You Dancers!
Liz