Is good, good enough in dance?

How does a dance student go from practice to perfect; along the path developing the essential life skills to succeed in any endeavor? This question came to me with answers almost as varied as there were individuals, as I agreed for the first time to prepare an all inclusive student recital from school age to moms with passion to dance. Those already performing professionally wholeheartedly cooperated and worked patiently with their juniors.

In the past, I have been happy to groom individual students to perform for their school or other functions and several performing together in temples during Navratri. As they reached semi-professional level, they participate in lecture demonstrations and group choreography in Delhi. Of course, summer/winter workshops end with a works-in-process studio presentation as stage practice is part with of learning, but this is without costumes, costs and fanfare.

Some students convinced me that giving up solid technical training for a couple months was justified in the interests of the motivation to focus on a time-bound group performance. It was a learning experience for me to see the character of students reflected in their consciousness of what preparation entailed.

The simplest and most fundamental component of success is respect for Time. Just showing up and on time, not wasting the time of others in a group cooperative effort is a clear expression of personal consideration for others. s life beyond wasting rehearsal time.

One student, asked if having a student program coming up motivated her, replied, “It made me regular in attendance, otherwise I sometimes skip class when I feel lazy or low energy after a hard week.” How thoughtful or thoughtless of the impact of “being there” for others translates across one’s land personal and professional life.

Stage practice, i.e. a performance for a non-professional dancer, is an essential part of learning how to project energy and connect with the audience. One student had regularly performed under a previous teacher, so she definitely had the benefit of “stage practice”. I asked her what she might gain this time that was new. “Before, I went on stage without a thought about what efforts and corrections to technique I needed to be conscious of or how to use my eyes and mind to communicate.” A pretty good example of the truth of the sport’s adage, “Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect!”

The legendary English ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn said, “If I don’t practice for two days, I will know the difference. if I don’t practice for four days, the audience will know the difference.” This standard of excellence won her critical accolades during a career spanning twice that of most other classical ballet dancers.

When rehearsals have reached a point where everyone has gotten it right, there is a temptation to move on. That is the time to share the motto “Don’t practice till you get it right, practice till you can’t get it wrong”.

Mastering dance is a process without end. The Padmavibhushans of the dance world consider that they remain learners. Besides from our teachers, dance student dents learn from life experience and personal growth, observation of the life around us, group collaboration, fellow students, and seeing disappointing as well as good performances.

Levels of self-confidence run the gamut from being virtually phobic about dancing in front of a real audience to those blind to the need for any improvement, the overfull cup. Most of us would be somewhere in-between, but I have sometimes seen very good dancers surprisingly nervous on stage, though not so obvious to most of the audience as they might think. Awareness of self in relation to others in the geometry of shared stage space is both a skill and mindfulness. It is wonderful to see dancers sharing their love of a classical genre with others irrespective of the fact that they will never achieve the level of excellence to present solo classical dance. They are brave, and love the art, love learning and sharing, and they are quite good enough.

From the early 70s when I first came to India right through working with dancers from various classical dance traditions to create large productions, I had been puzzled that some trained dancers showed no interest in opportunities to grow. Working in a group, whether within the same dance tradition or combinations of styles, there is a creative energy that supports gaining deeper understandings of one’s own parameters of creativity. I was dumbfounded to see paid professional dance artists happily repeating formulas of movement when the golden opportunity of improving under great choreographer-teachers was laid out like golden bread crumbs to follow. Eventually I understood that some dancers are true artists, always reaching toward excellence, while others are skilled workers in the field of arts.  They settle for “good enough” because of some combination of lack of passion, intelligence, discipline or creative curiosity that blinds them to the reality that they are not excellent as they think, but simply competent. The difference between very good and excellent is a thin sliver, but when you see excellent you will never mistake it for anything else. Self awareness and effort with joy will keep anyone on the continuum toward that goal, less and you cheat yourself and your audiences.

Sharon Lowen is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose four-decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dance and ballet in the US and an MA in dance from the University of Michigan. She can be  contacted at sharonlowen.workshop@gmail.com