Are We Meant to Retire…or Re-route?

Uncategorized 1 Minute

I have always been a workaholic—not because I’m afraid to slow down, but because there are so many things I desperately want to do that I’m afraid one lifetime isn’t enough to cram it all in. Dance, by its very nature, requires an inhuman level of technique, artistry, skill, and strength. All professional dancers already know what they’re signing up for from the very first day. Artists who were truly born for this life live in dread of the day when it finally has to come to an end.

When ballet dancers enter their very first class as young children, they are immediately exposed to and learn about devotion, teamwork, individual confidence, personal strength, tenacity, perseverance, imagination, and finding creative solutions to unique problems. Here is what the younger dancer doesn’t realize: That entire list truly goes into effect when life takes a different turn other than the lifelong classes, rehearsals, and performing. Sometimes the shift is a choice; sometimes you never see it coming. Either way, everything one needs at the end of a career was actually taught at the very beginning. It was practiced and honed during the peak years, but it’s all called upon and utilized when life finally shifts.

Actual retirement infers a pulling back, a cessation of ambition, a kind of no-man’s land of puttering around and not knowing where or what the focus of the day is going to be. For some people, retirement means that their purpose or value of who they are has been yanked out from under their feet. Younger people may say, “Enjoy yourself! Now you can do whatever you want!” But what most artists really want is to continue being creative, productive, and valued.

We rarely truly retire. But we do re-route. Our internal GPS recalculates and finds the best road to get us where we want to be—where we need to be.

We were all created for an ultimate purpose, and that ultimate purpose never changes. The only thing that changes is the scenery. The devotion, teamwork, confidence, strength, tenacity, perseverance, imagination, and creativity are what allow us to always

Dance on.

Unknown's avatar

Published by danceon0207

I have been a ballet dancer since I was eight years old. I danced professionally for thirty years with the Washington Ballet and then the Asaph Dance Ensemble. I now own and direct the Northern Virginia Dance Academy and direct the Asaph Dance Ensemble. I began writing in 2006 with the first edition of Breathing Life into Dance-One Teacher's Perspective. I then began a series of children's books based on situations that everyone experiences not only in a ballet studio, but also in life. We are never too old to learn something new nor teach what we'e learned to someone else!

Published

Leave a comment