- Hey everyone.
Today we are switching it up a little bit
for our Flexibility Friday.
We're gonna be chatting about
why it's not important to be flexible as a dancer.
I know that's kind of a controversial opinion
but I have three very important pieces
of wisdom I would like to bestow upon you.
(upbeat music)
So the very first thing is that flexibility is not required
or really needed in every dance style.
So, a good example of this is like, modern
or hip hop or even really like gestural based contemporary.
The problem is right now, we have social media
and we have commercial TV shows
that it's just like flexibility trick,
flexibility trick, flexibility trick.
It's the entire routine
is just having your leg behind your head.
But that's not all that dance is.
Dance is about movement.
And it has slowly transformed into this kind
of flexibility monster where this extreme sense
of range of motion is like a requirement now.
But I'm here to kind of be a voice of reason that,
it's not. It's not, actually.
There are plenty of styles of dance that you don't need
to have this superhuman range of motion
to be a beautiful dancer
or to be successful in the dance industry.
So give yourself a little bit of grace
and know that there're so many options
when it comes to dancing
and flexibility is just this tiny little sliver
of all of that.
So like I said,
flexibility is just this tiny sliver of dance.
There are so many other important parts
of being a well rounded dancer.
You have your musicality, you have your artistry
you have your strength, you have your performance quality
you have your intent,
there's so many things that come
into making a beautiful dancer.
So I want you to think about like zooming out
from this flexibility crazed generation, if you will
and realize that there's so many other beautiful strengths
and traits that you can have as a dancer
that will make you just absolutely stunning.
Musicality being one, is really focusing
on hitting every single beat in the music.
Artistry is being, why are you dancing?
It's the texture and the movement quality
that you bring to a choreographer's routine
so it doesn't look like every other dancer.
There are so many other ways to stand out.
Then again, having a superhuman sense of flexibility.
I would even say, nowadays with so many people
doing all of these cookie cutter flexibility tricks,
having those other traits as a dancer
actually does make you stand out.
Whenever I choose dancers for a project,
and I'm being a hundred percent transparent,
I never think, "Oh, well. This person can get their leg
behind their head. They're hired."
It's, "No, this person makes me tear up when they dance.
This person is so grounded and beautiful when they move.
This person has a lot of expression."
and that's why they get the jobs.
So try and zoom out from flexibility
and see all of the possibilities.
And now, for a message from our sponsors at Skillshare.
Skillshare is an online learning community
with so many inspiring classes, you guys
for creative and curious people.
You can explore new skills, deepen existing passions
and get lost in creativity.
Perfect for (inaudible).
Skillshare offers membership with meaning
with the support of fellow creatives,
there's so many amazing people on that platform.
Skillshare motivates you to accomplish real growth
with so many incredible class topics.
Some of them that I think are really interesting are
the fine art classes and music, music production,
film and video and even things for Instagram.
So I've been pretty excited to take this iPhone
photography class with Dale McManus.
And it's basically how to take pro photos
on just your iPhone.
Skillshare is curated specifically for learning.
So there's no ads and they're always adding new classes
so you can stay focused and put your energy
into something positive and light.
And you guys, it's less than $10 a month
with an annual subscription.
And guess what sweet bebes,
the first thousand people to use the link
in the video description will get a free trial
of Skillshare premium membership.
So go, go, go.
Use your creativity for good.
Alright.
So from my last point here, I just really wanna share
that flexibility is not the same thing
as a healthy range of motion.
I think right now, again with social media,
there's a lot of unhealthy practices
being kind of pushed into dancers' worlds.
Like extreme over splits and teachers kind of like sitting
on a dancer's hips in...
There's a fly.
in the Harris Center split.
First of all, Oh my goodness gracious,
your joints are going to just be destroyed
when you're older.
And I don't wanna just make that a blanket statement.
I'm sure people are fostering
extreme flexibility in safe ways
but just understand that being flexible is not a cure all
for being a healthy functioning dancer.
Being flexible, again is just a piece
of your journey as a dancer.
You can still have beautiful lines
and long extensions without needing to dislocate your hip
and have your tilt go behind your head.
It's okay. You can still have just really beautiful lines
without needing to kind of push the body
into unnatural, unhealthy positions.
So again, I know this is kind of a controversial topic.
I just wanna really on this channel
promote healthy, safe training.
I wanna promote just self-assuredness as a dancer,
you do not need to be flexible to be successful.
You do not need to be flexible
to be popular in the dance industry.
You do not need to be successful to book all the jobs.
So just have some grace with yourself as you find your place
as a dancer and give your body
the care that it needs while it's doing such a rigorous
type of activity, like dance.
(upbeat music)