Have you seen the movie Trolls? If not, that's ok but I highly recommend it if anything just for the sake of listening to some fun music and Justin Timberlake's voice ;). I mean who doesn't love a Troll? Anyway, there is a song in there that I reference at least 4-5 times a week. (You can actually watch it here). This young princess Troll is headed to save her Troll Tribe and everything bad that could possibly happen is happening to her and the entire time all this stuff is happening she is singing-
“Hey, I’m not giving up today
There’s nothing getting in my way
And if you knock knock me over
I will get back up again”
It basically is the perfect example of resilience, effort, determination, and drive. Those simple children's lyrics are what I consider to be the one thing that separates those who are successful and those who are not. The ability to take a hit, stand up, and go again-over and over and over.
“Your ability to ‘get back up again’ after you have failed will ultimately define how successful you become.”
As dancers, what happens when we fail? When we don't nail our solo, we don't get the part, we don't place in overalls, or we literally fall flat on our faces? What do we do next?
And if every time you fail you kept going right back to that thing and did it the exact same way you would keep failing. Ever heard the phrase "practice makes perfect"? Well, let me blow your mind for a second, it's not just practice. To say that we are saying, that doing the same thing, the same way, over and over will eventually make us better. I 100% disagree. We have to take the criticism in between, apply it and make changes and then practice again. That's how we get to "perfect". We have to get up, dust off, reset ourselves, and try again...this time a little differently than before. And if that fails we keep doing it over and over until we get it right.
I will tell you first hand that I LOVE feedback and critique. I love to know exactly and I mean exactly what I am doing wrong so I can fix it and change it. Also I HATE it. It is so annoying to me that sometimes, when we think we are doing a great job, there is still work more to be done. With my love and hate for the feedback also comes my understanding of how necessary it is. Necessary to really hear and really apply and keep moving forward. And, if you are out there getting "knocked down" with feedback or failed attempts over and over, getting back up can be exhausting. Constantly trying and trying and not getting to where you want to be is tough. I get it.
Several years ago I auditioned for a company that I felt I was perfect for. Their style, their dancers, everything. Heck, I even knew both artistic directors. I went to the audition and felt amazing. I think I even got so emotional in one section of choreography that real tears came streaming out. I made the call backs and the artistic director even complimented me out loud in the middle of the audition. Guys, I am not a cocky person but I just knew I had this. I am sure you can guess what is coming. Yep, I didn't get it. About a week later I got a very generic email that said "Thank you for auditioning but we can not offer you a position at this time." That was it.
I sat on my couch and cried. Ugly tears.
Y'all, I had auditioned and not made things my ENTIRE life. I am a very resilient person and had lived years and years of my career getting a lot of "No's". But this "NO" really stung. I was angry, sad, mad, all the things. When the initial sting wore off I was angry at myself for letting this one "NO" effect me. Why was I so upset? I re-read the email and it's brevity and realized I needed the more information. In other jobs I had auditioned for if I didn't make it I just didn't get a callback. The End. But because they sent an email, I needed more. I needed to know WHY I didn't get it. I needed to know, after what I thought was an amazing audition, why I was not selected. I needed to know so I could "get back up again". So, I emailed them back. I asked them basically to offer feedback as to why I wasn't chosen. I knew I needed to know in order to move on.
Long story short they responded with some feedback and invited me to rehearsals as an understudy. I took that feedback, fixed it, and was offered a contract in their company after one rehearsal. That isn't exactly the point of the story. The point of the story is, when you don't get the part, the score, the role, the slot in the company what are you doing to "get back up again"?
What if, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves for what we didn't get and jealous of who did get it, we saught after the feedback, the information we need to get up, make the changes, and get better? Imagine how great we would become if every time we "got up" we "got better".
The truth is y'all, we have to fail. It's what makes us stronger, better and ultimately successful. It's ok to fall, fail, whatever you want to call it. Get up, dust off, get back to it.
I will end this blog with the words of Poppy, the Troll...
“What if it’s all a big mistake
What if it’s more than I can take
No I can’t think that way ‘cause I know that
I’m really, really, really, really gonna be ok.”
Take Care of you, Dancers,
Liz