Five Fatal Errors

Ever wonder why other dancers get more accolades or seem to get ahead faster? Self-doubt can lead us to making a fatal error that leaves you feeling like you are going nowhere. Sometimes we don’t even know we made an error at all, we just struggle with frustration.

What are the common mistakes an ambitious dancer might make? Check out the following list to see if you are stuck in the mire of an error right now and need help getting unstuck. Or maybe you can relate to an error that you made in the past and learned from it. You can help guide another in their dance journey. 

1. Dancing from the neck down:  You might have the best shimmy in the whole world, but if your dancing doesn’t tell a story with feeling and charisma, it will never stand out as anything special. Mastering technique is a wonderful asset, but if you are only a great technician, your show will be flat and unemotional. Make sure that you are truly feeling things when you perform! And I don’t mean stage fright. I am talking about emotional expression like happiness, playfulness, shyness, boldness, drama, sweetness, and a myriad of other feelings. This means you must use your body language and your facial expressions to add meaning to your excellent technique. Oh, and by the way, don't forget that you should use your head when you dance. Head slides, circles, rolling, tossing the head back, throwing your hair forward, and just plain looking sharply for an accent are all exciting enhancements to your performance. (Um, about the head movements, please don't over do it! It is not in good taste to throw your hair around repeatedly. Zar dance is not belly dance.)
2. Not taking class anymore: So you feel like you have are a good dancer, are maybe teaching others how to belly dance, and/or are acquiring dance jobs and doing pretty well. This is the time when it's easy to believe you no longer need to study dance anymore. But the most well-trained dancers of any kind can tell you they still take class and look for workshops that will expand their knowledge. Plus, there’s nothing like a personal dance coach to keep you physically and mentally on top of your game. The internet is a great tool for seeing what is going on around the world, but you will always need a real-life coach that is not afraid to correct you with honesty. Find a mentor that can challenge you.  Look for new ideas. Research on the internet to learn as much as you can. Practice a lot. If you keep learning, your art will keep growing. When you stop learning, your art will stagnate and decline.
3. Doing too much, too little, too soon:  When should you claim that you’re a professional? What makes a professional anyway? These days you look online and see thousands of dancers claiming to be the end-all of belly dance. How do you know how to sort between who is for real and who’s simply good at posting on social media? The fact remains the internet alone does not make you a professional, no matter how good you are at promoting yourself there. You need to dance for real at all sorts of gigs. Build real credentials with real experience.  Accept as many dance jobs as possible, using each gig as a learning experience. When you do that, you will absolutely know that you are indeed a professional, and all your online marketing will be backed up by your true experience. Until then, hold off on declaring that you are a pro. 
4. Losing your focus: You get what you focus on. But first, you better make sure you know what that is. Do you have a dance goal? If not, you are stuck floundering and will never get ahead. If you can identify your goal clearly you are already halfway there. Be consistent and diligent. Visualize your goal often and in detail. Focus on one thing at a time, work on it, and master it. Once you have achieved that goal, you can set a new one. It’s like slowly climbing a ladder. You take one rung at a time, carefully stepping up and never looking down.  Over time, you will get grand results. It’s not easy, but it is simple.
5. Comparing yourself to others:  As a dancer you should be the best you can be. The only person to compete with is yourself. If you look around, you will always be able to find someone who looks better, moves better, and/or is more well-known than you are. That’s discouraging. It's tough not to feel even a little competitive. However, you would do yourself a huge favor if you let go of all that and stay on your own path. No one else’s approval will ever be enough if you do not feel confident in your own abilities. Ask a trusted coach if your ego is in your way, and don’t be offended if the answer is yes. You must sometimes get out of your own way in order to succeed.