Dance Arena Ep. 6. – Humility and Mastery: You’re Not What You Say You Are

“Hi, my name is X, and I’m a dancer, teacher, and choreographer.”

With the economy and inflation as it is, I certainly do wish I had one dollar for every time I have heard that.  Titles are thrown around very easily, especially in an industry where one does not need a diploma in order to give themselves one.  It is very easy to punch titles into our LinkedIn profile, and within a week a hundred or so people have seen that you’re a “choreographer”.  We all want the recognition of being titled without the actual investment that the title implies, especially in this, the 21st century, the era of the technological quick fix.  This may come off as being a bit mean, but in most of the cases where I have heard the above statement, I would deem the statement to be false.

Now I do a lot of renovations – I demolish walls, I install electric cables, I install the copper tubing that supplies the house with water (from the analogies I’ve used in my previous articles, some of you may have already guessed that ;-)).  I’ve been doing that for a very long time; since I was an adolescent.

I am not a plumber.  I am not an electrician.  And I am not a contractor.

The doing does not automatically make you the profession.  The fact that you choreograph does not in itself make you a choreographer, and the fact that you teach does not make you a teacher.  There is a lot more involvement, experience, time, and investment that is associated with the being.  Some things just cannot be accelerated with a mobile app.

The question though is at what point does one become the thing that they do?  Well it’s not totally clear, and it’s up for discussion.  There is no clear moment where out of a sudden one can say that they “are” the profession.  There is no initiation rite that defines exactly when one “becomes”.

But one thing the profession does imply is mastery.  Have you ever heard people say this: “he/she wasn’t a good dancer, but he/she is an amazing teacher”?  We do hear that.  In the dance world I’ve heard it many times.  And only in the dance world.

That is because the sentence makes absolutely no sense.  You would never say that of a math teacher who multiplies poorly.  You would never say that of a medical teacher who wasn’t a very good doctor.  You cannot transfer competencies that you do not have.  Mastery is a prerequisite.

And mastery still does not have shortcuts.  Technology has reduced the time it take to access information, but it still has not reduced the time it takes to master it.

Humility.  Work.  Time.  Mastery.  In the context of teaching and choreographing, to this I’d like to add “critical thought.”

Without these, the minimum, you are not the profession.  The fact that you teach does not make you a teacher; the fact that you choreograph does not make you a choreographer.

Just as the fact that I am writing this blog does not necessarily make me a writer.