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Practice Community
Practice Community
Practice in an environment of striving dancers is very important. Actually to my view training in the presence of any dancers can be helpful. Most people act differently when others are around. It’s a natural human reflex to look good in front of others, which means: the arguments will be calmer, clothes and general appearance neater and of course the dancing of hopefully better quality. It’s necessary to be involved with the dance community one way or another if you are a dancer. Whether the community is social, competitive or crazy it is still better than being constantly alone on a dance floor.
Of course it is good to have some time alone because sometimes we as human beings can discover more possibilities in ourselves when the atmosphere is more relaxed and noone is watching. There is a saying: „dance like noone is watching“. The time alone I feel might also have more productivity when the individual knows that he can later demonstrate it in some community.
For some even receiving recognition from one person is important and the person can be a mother, not a dancer. There are people who went through their career with great motivation just to prove something to one person who was absolutely not noticed by the community but for some reason mattered to the particular individual. There can be different reactions of different people to the practice environments.
I’m just trying to point out that the stimulation to do something (dance) is in some way connected to the community. The ones who like to practice in a community of lower quality dancers than they are just like to feel comfortable being the way they are and be appreciated without the extra sweat to go farther. Surely everyone likes to be considered good and in some way admired by others, but there must be a time when they should move higher and submerge themselves into stronger environments. It will not be easy to know that you are not the best in this community, but it is actually the most to my view successful way to improve quickly. One needs to have a will to disconnect with the past happy community that was comfortable although was acting like quite a strong hold back against developing into something higher.
A car manufacturer should be in the circle of other car companies, not the furniture industry. A food company should probably be in contact with the nutritional industry, not the oil industry. It’s already better for a car manufacturer to be closer to something more like the motorboat industry, there’s already something to talk about and more common things to exchange opinions about. The point is that the closer you come to people that have the same interests the better. You will stimulate each other and in the end feel more at home and in the right place.
The problem of being too far away from the dance community can be on a continental level, like Africa. On a regional level like Northern Territories in Canada. It can be on a local level that my studio is a bit far from where others are practicing. The one who strives to get better must find ways of getting closer to others who are moving in a similar direction as he is, even though they are direct and fierce competition. Toyota would not be the same as it is today if there were no Volkswagen, Honda and General Motors.
Vadim Garbuzov, 8 February 2006