In a Dancers Shoes #1

By Christian Jordan Capili

“My experiences, thoughts, and feelings regarding dance as whole whether it’s my team, the community or my life as a dancer.”


At times as a dancer, our worse opponent when it comes to dancing is our emotions. Our emotions are what drive us to be a better dancer, or it can be the tool that destroy the very passion we have for dance. In this case, when it comes to “Casting” sometimes our emotions play a role in how things turn out for any dancer, and sometimes it either has a positive or negative after-effect for any dancer.

“Casting is a process in which a dancer would “try out” for the pieces that was taught by the choreographers to have a spot for that section in the routine.”

1. When you don’t get casted for that piece – Don’t get mad, don’t give up, just work harder.

What I have learned as a dancer is that, if I don’t get casted to a certain piece there are certain things I am missing as a dancer that fits into the choreographer’s criteria. It isn’t reasons like “I suck at dancing” or “ The choreographer has favorites” or even “I know I did better than that guy/girl” is the type of thinking that will only cause us to think more negatively and cause us to lose the motivation to dance not just for ourselves but for the team as well. Emotions play a major role when it comes to these types of processes in my opinion. Once we let our emotions into our dance nirvana, we lose all focus and we become astray from the real goal of why we dance.

A solution to this dilemma is simple to work harder next time. Ask for critiques from the choreographer themselves, and those criticisms as a result will show were our weaknesses are, and will make us into a better dancer. Every opportunity that may seem lost isn’t entirely gone. As a member of Family Bizness there were times I’d let my emotions get the better of me, but I know better that just because I wasn’t casted for one piece, that one piece won’t be the same group of people the entire season. We all compete in multiple competitions, and changes will be made. And if we continue to work hard and accept the criticisms our choreographers has said to us, then we can improve ourselves twice as much as before.

2. When you do get casted for that piece – Work harder no matter what, be humble and appreciative.

When dancers do become part of the section they casted for, there has been an instance in which a dancer becomes too relaxed, too confident in their ability and even at times possible begin to belittle the dancers around them who aren’t part of the section. Though the last example is a hunch on my part, I believe it has happened somewhere before. Nevertheless these type of attitudes, and ways won’t be a good example for other dancers alike, and will only fuel the negativity that other dancers feel already after a casting.
A quote/statement that was said to me was that we mustn’t let our achievements keep us in one level and make us lazy; we must keep rising and rising no matter what the occasion is. Because as hard as it is to become part of a particular section for any dance team, it is easy to easily lose the spot we worked so hard for in an instant by not showing the dedication and hard work a choreographer asks in return of us dancers. We must be a good role model to those around us and even encourage, support, and guide those who wish to become better. At times people forget to appreciate the things we have been given, even if we are given a spot for a certain section we must still show our appreciation for it and stay humble to it no matter what.

Afterword:
Though it is hard to face these realities, its part of life. At times our emotions play a core role in how we act as a dancer. If we act prideful and cocky, that will be the energy we will let out to those around us; and as a result, we as individuals will look at those dancers who are in a sense “prideful and cocky” as a bad influence to the dance community. If we try to confront these issues and try to find a solution to these, I can guarantee that any struggling dancer in a team can find a safe haven and a sense of reassurance that not all hope is lost. We as dancers need to remember that dancing is fun, it is part of our life and that we can’t let any negativity get the best of us, and if there are those who are astray, we must learn to go back down and help those who are on the ground no matter what.

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