Pushing, Pushing

Every morning following my four-hour rehearsal for Sacramento Kings Dancers, I'm sore like I haven't danced in months.  I'm told this is a good thing.

A couple of weeks ago, I took what is called a master class by a local choreographer and friend, Tramon Traywick.  Basically, it is a workshop where dancers come to learn choreography from a professional choreographer and get critiqued.  This particular class was in the style of jazz funk; a fusion of jazz dance and hip hop and burlesque.  I guess the reason I went off on this tangent about this class is that the choreographer mentioned something that stuck with me, "As dancers, we always have to push." I attribute my soreness to me "pushing" at rehearsals.

The goal is to one day be a touring backup dancer for an uber-famous singer like Lady Gaga, or choreograph for music videos and the VMAs.  Feels like I'm on my way, especially if I push.

There are a million and one things for dancers to think about while rehearsing or performing; execution of choreography, stamina, technique and entertaining the audience, and that's only narrowed down to the most important elements.  Dancing is hard.

I recently attended a local dance performance, "Red Bucket Dance Theater: The Collection", which took place at the 24th Street Theater in town.  As previously covered, dancers are competitive, so watching a show with peer dancers, performed by peer dancers, is always interesting.  All we're doing is critiquing. 


The genre was modern dance with hints of ballet, cultural dance and musical theater.  For the most part, I enjoyed the show, save for a few pieces I could not interpret or were not aesthetically pleasing.  One of the scenes that struck me most was the end work, which had an oriental flavor to it.  Percussive movement, quick direction changes and leaps into the air filled the stage.  The reason behind its entertaining factor was that the dancers were pushing. 

Out of realization that the dance community is miniature relative to the rest of the world, I'd like to expand my theory of pushing...


Yesterday, I had a conversation with my best friend who is currently living in LA and attending Pepperdine University for her masters in psychology.  We were discussing whether or not people should push themselves to be more social, more aggressive and more interesting.  In a sense, we loosely concluded that pushing results in growth, in any situation. 


I guess it's a common thought to push or "strive" for the best.  But I think there is a major difference between pushing and striving.  I consider pushing as giving it 110% when you've got nothing left, in essence, putting your mind over the matter.  In dance terms, it's continuing to dance full out at the end of rehearsal when you're drenched in sweat and your muscles are past the point of fatigue. 


Whatever the industry, whatever the goal, pushing seems to be a key element to stay competitive and to continue growing.  Now the next question is where to find that extra 10%...