What The Athenians Taught Me This Week

The ancient Greeks taught me a valuable lesson via my humanities class the other day.

This is the Parthenon.  The ancient temple was built on the Acropolis and dedicated to the goddess Athena.  At the time, the Athenians valued the perfection of mathematical precision.  Realism dominated their culture.  


However, they soon realized that if they were to follow the mathematical proportions exactly, their majestic temple would look.... lame.  The front entrance would appear to sag, the columns would look skinny and wimpy.  It just wouldn't reflect the grandeur that it was meant for.

So, they improvised here and there.  Give the columns some beefiness in the center. Let the floor have a bit of a curve.  Give it some life.  And so on, until it reached aesthetic perfection.  

   

Sometimes my prissy little second-grade perfectionist self comes out and starts to feel hopeless if things aren't going the way I planned.  When life isn't perfect, or perfectly in order, or going perfectly my way, I sometimes struggle to see the beauty or the logic in it.


Those Athenians had some weird beliefs, but they definitely taught me a valuable lesson.  There is beauty in imperfection.  Life is beautiful, even if it's not the perfectly calculated plan we originally had.  And most of the time, what actually ends up happening is so much better than the blueprints we had in mind.  We just have to take a step back and look at the whole picture.

(replica of the Parthenon)

Thank You, SFCD

"You must recognize the importance of practicing your potential.

If you don't think it's important to work to your fullest extent, you're already in trouble."

I come home tomorrow. I feel like I just tried to drink out of a fire hydrant for four weeks and now I have to go into the drought hoping my gulps of information/motivation will carry me through and keep boosting me toward my goals.

"There is no place for reservation. It's not logical. Return to the fearless child."

Like last time, I'm coming back a new dancer. I have new purpose in what I do. It's rather exciting, really.

"Your choices are: get lucky, work hard, or don't. Those are your choices."

I'm excited to start another year with Theatre Ballet in two weeks! It will be a time of much growth and hard work. I can't wait.

"Practice and Doing What's Comfortable are two separate things.

Don't let yourself get away with doing less."

(quotes from Summer Lee Rhatigan, director at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance... just a few tiny drops from the fire hydrant I drank from)

this is the ad for the show we had this weekend. it was awesome.

Round Two

Have you ever had a really positive experience or relationship or vacation that once you leave it, you yearn to go back? But when you actually go back to that thing or person or place, you realize it's not a amazing or magical as you once thought it was? Not that ___(whatever it is)___ is less awesome or influential. Just that you perceive it differently.

Maybe it's because whatever it is has changed. Or you have changed. Or you already knew what to expect so the magic is gone.

Funny how that happens.

In other news, I started my first day here at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance! I'm here for round two of the summer intensive program. Day One was sweaty and sore. I have a feeling there will be many more days like that in the next four weeks...

Live Performance Thrills Me And I'll Tell You Why

Whether you're watching someone perform what they love to do, or you are the actual performer, you are sucked into this new, thrilling dimension.

To be completely encompassed, totally focused and zoned-in on what you are doing--what you are creating--is a powerful feeling known only to those who have put their whole soul into creating art.

( The Passion of Dance - Drew Jacoby)

Although this can be experienced in an intimate setting (like a painter quietly bringing life to a canvas), there is something to be said about performing in front of an audience. I just witnessed a concert where amazing musicians became totally engrossed in their music-making. It was exciting to witness their passion and it was equally exciting to see and feel the audience feed off that passion.

( Fictionist )

That connection between performer/artist and audience member is one of my favorite things about dancing. Giving the viewers (or listeners) a little view inside your soul and sharing with them your passion for your art form--even for a brief moment--is exhilarating and extremely fulfilling for me.

Restless

- When I have no structure, I fall to pieces. Actually, it's more of a blob-like consistency.

- Wedding announcements are eating my life away. I've had nightmares about them... Can I please just move on with my life?........please?

- I watched the pilot episode of Pushing Daises and I think I'm hooked, but I can't tell for sure because I haven't had a moment to watch another episode.

- I feel like I haven't had a moment to watch TV, yet at the end of a day I wonder what the heck I accomplished.

- Theories on why I'm restless include: upcoming wedding (22 days), not exercising like I should, and of course, NOT DANCING.

I think restlessness is among my top 7 most uncomfortable feelings ever. What makes you restless?

Life Lessons Learned Today

- Little miracles happen everyday. Big ones happen sometimes too. At exactly the right times. We just need to learn to recognize them.

- Sometimes you are appreciated for the hard work you do. Other times you are not. You should work hard anyway because it always does some good either for you, for others, or both.

- Life is too short to be sad or angry or jealous. But sometimes those things get the best of us. Thank goodness for people who are patient, who listen, who help. It's nice to be that person for someone else, especially when you've be helped or listened to lately.

- It's fun to be bold in your creativity. It is fulfilling to see a creative project fulfilled.

- Celebratory ice cream, hamburgers, brownies, etc are also fulfilling.

- Perseverance is the key to success. Even if you have to choose a different, unexpected path, you must endure well in order to achieve.

- There is much to be done after finals, including much more blogging. I have an exciting summer ahead of me!

(pretty spring blossoms from Mesa, AZ)

Of Love & Learning on this St Patty's Day

I could apologize for being a blogging slacker because of my inconsistent-slash-boring posts, or the like...

But I won't. Because we all knew coming into this that I am a busy little soul who can't make time to record all the things that are happening and all the bajillion thoughts that pass through my head everyday. We also knew that this would be a challenge for me--an important goal to work toward, if you will. So here I am, taking the baby steps (What About Bob shout out) to make my goal happen. If you're still reading this, I thank you for being patient with me as I work to overcome this particular weakness of mine (aka recording my life and thoughts).

Here's a little something for your philosophical pallet to chew on:

Laziness and fear are the antithesis of love and progression.
Love = the act of extending oneself (courage, hard work)

We were discussing these thoughts from Scott Peck and Immanuel Kant in my Humanities class awhile back and I can't get them out of my head. The principles are so simple and so true. When I remember this I realize how selfish I am a lot of the time and I wonder how many times I have missed opportunities to reach out because I was lazy or afraid. Behold, another weakness I'm trying to overcome.

The list of my weaknesses is long, you see, but I've come to understand that this life is all about growing. We're here to progress and learn from our weaknesses and mistakes. I love that we CAN do that. It's a beautiful thing, I tell you. Have a happy St Patrick's Day :)

(painting by Constable, also studied in Humanities.
he was famous for his green landscapes.
pretty painting, eh?)

A Fascinating Phenomenon

Isn't it funny how as soon as other people see potential in you (and let you know about it) then you start to believe in yourself? You start to feel like you have potential too? This happens to me in dance a whole lot. As soon as I feel like someone believes in me, I get the boost I need to fuel the fire of self-confidence and continue, renewed, toward my goals.

*of course I believe in myself to some degree. I would have quit long ago had I not felt the burning desire to succeed. side-note ended.*

I just think it's an interesting phenomenon that happens in my life, but especially in dance. For example. I am not the stereotypical stick-thin, delicate ballerina. I used to feel like this would hinder me in future auditions or opportunities because I'm not the "standard body-type." That is, until a friend on my company told me that I reminded her of Sofiane Sylve (a powerful, strong professional dancer from France):

photo from dance.net

*That's not to say that I dance like her. I am a far, far cry from her precision and expertise. end side-note again.*

She is powerful and strong, not a fragile bone-rack. The potential my friend saw in me gave me the confidence boost I needed.

The questions I have now are... why can't we see our own potential? Why do we refuse to see what we can become until someone else tells us? Imagine how amazing we could be if we would just get out of our own way and let ourselves flourish...