The World of Ballet (part two) 165

  The toughest situation for me came up when one of my co-workers got injured three hours before the show and I had to learn and perform his entire part with very little time and preparation.  Even though I managed to do it, I recognized that it was very stressful for me because his character used more of a modern style, rather than ballet.

That experience thought me to be always versatile and best prepared, that every choreographer and director has his or her own style and no matter where I am in my dance career, it is important not to limit myself by only learning one dance technique.  We can’t change the situation we are exposed to, but we can modify our skills to be able to adapt and be successful at what we do. I will conclude asking you to never be afraid of being challenged you might be great at it and learn something about yourself you never knew before!

The World of Ballet (part one) 196

Life sometimes makes us go through unfamiliar situations for which we are not totally ready yet, but, it’s our ability to quickly adapt and learn from each one of our experiences, what allows us to grow, and become a better employee. In the next few minutes I am going to share with you, why I consider myself a quick study.

Being a ballet dancer now days is more challenging that it was 50 years ago. The large amount of very well talented dancers in today’s companies makes the dance environment very competitive. Every rehearsal becomes a challenge, choreographers come up with new ideas every day, often changing the choreography over and over, making me adapt quickly to new set of moves, musical timing and often unfamiliar movements that are part of today’s contemporary style. There are always three or four dancers in the back of the room, doing the choreography at the same time I do, trying to do it better than me so they can take my spot. This increases the pressure and stimulates my ability to quickly catch the essence of the choreography and incorporate these styles to my dance repertory. 

Negative Aspects of Carpe Diem (163)

Sometimes we think about living in the present too long. The disadvantages of the Carpe Diem mind set has a negative impact and can be seen everywhere in our society. Instead of sacrificing the present for the sake of the future, we often sacrifice the future for the sake of the present. Federal spending is one of the most notorious examples.  As a result of spending money we don’t have today, the average new born comes to this world owing about fourteen thousand dollars. This mentality of living in the present and not think or plan for the future is one of the reasons we have so much debt in our country. Even though we don’t know for sure what is going to happen tomorrow, we all need to plan for the future and have a more predictable outcome. The only way we can have a decent future is If we plan on it, and we put all of our energy on it.

Possitive Aspects of Carpe Diem (182)

Life is often said to be as brief as a blink of an eye. The advantages of Carpe Diem mind set and it’s exhortation to get the most out of each individual day has its advantages because it stimulates us to life in the present and take advantages of any situation we find ourselves is, not thinking about the future and dedicating all our time and effort to the reality we are in. We leave something we really like for the future when we can have it now. Why not moving to that especial place we had always dreamed to live now, instead of spending all your years somewhere we don’t really like. That was the main reason why I decided to change my life and move from Arizona to Florida. I am happy I did. There is nothing in life that is worth the negativity of having to be unhappy because of a future that we don’t have assured.  Carpe Diem is fuel for our desire of living life full of passion and as If today were the last day.

The Way We Comunicate (part one) 216

Communication has a major impact in our lives; it defines how we interact with each other and it plays a major role in the possible outcome of how our ideas and decisions are viewed by others. Even though there is different ways of communicating I had always been attracted to being more verbal when it comes to delivering my ideas.

During my third year as a dance instructor in a non-profit art academy for low income family children, the economic crisis started to become a reality and the amount of donations that the academy was receiving was very low, forcing the cancellation of many programs and taking way many of those children’s dreams to become an artist. I came up with a good idea and during one of the staff meetings; I decide to share it with everyone. Full of energy and enthusiasm, and using short words and sentences in order to avoid confusion, I started by suggesting the creation of Dance Parties, in which our current and former donors would bring their own kids to watch a recital and have them participate at the end, using games and dance movements in a fun and interactive way. Asking for opinions and suggestions from my co-workers, I assured that the meeting remained relevant for everyone.

The Way we Comunicate (part two) 176

 After listening to other instructors carefully, paying attention to their suggestions, and answering their questions in a concise and brief way, I made then realize that through this new Dance Parties, the donors would have a chance to see by themselves the effect of their donations on those children’s lives, and their impact on the community. We all came to the conclusion of implementing this new strategy and the results were amazing. After the first party, many of our former donors started to support the academy again and the numbers kept going up as we continued to implement more those activities. We were all very happy, especially the children.

 My desire to improve my verbal communication skills, increased dramatically after that experience. Knowing that communication will enhance my relationships, increase my market value, and build my self-esteem, had encouraged me to put greater emphasis in growing and developing myself in this area. Always having in mind that famous quote from John Powell, “Communication works for those who work at it”.