“You’re a dancer… what do you know?”

🩰Resilience.
Audition after audition and rejection after rejection. Being told:
“You’re not good enough.”
“Your body’s the wrong shape.”
“Your feet aren’t pointy enough.”
“Your neck isn’t long enough.”
“You’re not strong enough.”
“How are you going to survive seven shows and a matinee?”
“What happens if you get injured? How quickly can you recover?”
These are the questions you’re asked after training for 17 years.

🩰Work ethic.
Show up and stay disciplined and get on with the work. Even when your calves are cramping, your toes are bleeding and your body is screaming at you to stop.

🩰Honesty.
Looking at yourself every single day and correcting your own mistakes. Constantly adjusting your posture, your technique and your mindset until you meet the standard that’s required.

🩰Sacrifice.
Living with uncertainty around money because in the entertainment industry you often get paid 90 days after performing on TV

🩰Adaptability.
Working with people from every corner of the world who speak different languages, yet somehow communicating through choreography.

These are just a few of the things being a professional dancer taught me. So yes, earning my master’s degree was hard. 

Learning ballet, auditioning. Standing in front of a pianist and a room full of casting directors to sing. Performing under relentless pressure. Building a body capable of performing at its peak, day after day. That was hard too!

The reason I could complete a master’s was because dance had already taught me resilience, discipline, self-awareness, adaptability and how to perform under pressure. People often underestimate what dancers know because all they see is the performance.

Blood sweat and tears 😭 is the daily grind for a professional dancer.