Why The Pressure Of Doing Dance Exams Is Good For You
Today is D-Day! The pressure is on. Our studio modern dance exams are starting. There is a nervous excitement hanging in the air for both teachers, students and parents alike, and every year I wonder to myself ‘why do I put myself and the kids through this?’
Even though I think this, the answer is painfully obvious. Without having something to work towards, we end up working aimlessly with no direction.
We seem to spend our whole year working for that unattainable perfection, that most of us never seem to achieve, but it is the climb and the achievement knowing that you are now the best you will ever be that makes it all worth while.
Your exam is proof that you have achieved something for your time and efforts throughout the year. Without exams, what would we have to work for and strive for?
There is something special about dancing exams. Unlike schoolwork where you sit and write in privacy, with dancing you are displaying all your faults, weaknesses and achievements to a total stranger, whom you will probably never see again. You are giving a piece of your inner self, as you show your emotions through your dancing. This stranger has the privilege of seeing you performing to the best of your ability, and that is something that the teacher never sees, because in class there is none of that final pressure or that ‘this is it’ feeling. You will be performing and giving of your best to the person sitting scrutinizing you and marking you. It is like dancing for your life, as you want to get the best result that you possibly can, and with dancing we all know that that top result is extremely difficult to achieve.
Even if you know that you will never become a professional dancer, there is a great sense of achievement when you can perform a series of exercises and dances that you couldn’t do a few short months ago. The ultimate feeling is to get difficult work mastered and to be able to finally perform it.
If you have an exam to work towards, you will work harder and in turn improve yourself. This is a very important lesson for later in life. You should always have the proverbial carrot dangling in front of you to enable you to achieve your goals. Why do so many forget this principle when moving off to work in the corporate world.
Getting stuck in a dead end job that you don’t enjoy, with nothing to work for and no challenges, apart from your salary, gives you nothing to look forward to, and nothing to get out of bed for in the morning. You should always have goals that you are reaching for and working actively towards, and your life will be infinitely richer.