It sounds unbelievable, but not having some dance skills doesn’t stop dancers from being professionally successful.
If you have ever been in practice and wondered, “Why can’t I do my splits like everyone else?” or compared your extensions to the dancer next to you, you aren’t alone. Dancers are trained with the mindset that we need to be flexible to be good. However, that isn’t entirely true. Flexibility is not the determining factor for good dancers.
Flexibility is just ONE piece of the puzzle
Being flexible is helpful, but it is not everything. A strong dancer has hard work, strength, musicality, and control. Beyond that, a dancer builds their stage presence on confidence and passion. The majority of dancers can get their leg up high, but how well can they really control those extensions? Control is always going to look and score better and draw more attention than a fancy trick with no control.
You Can Succeed with OTHER strengths
There are so many other ways that you can shine as a dancer. Flexibility is just one thing, and it might not be your strength, which is okay. You can have the best extension in the room, but if you aren’t showing the passion and emotional parts of the dance, then that isn’t going to matter. Having confidence and good stage presence will take you so much further than any leg hold ever will. Focus on the strengths you do have to chase goals that match your skills and growth.
Strength and control
Dance focuses on the appearance of graceful, fluid movements, but you need strength to handle even the most flexible moves. Beautiful leg extensions are stable. You don’t want to see a dancer hopping all over the stage. Flexibility gives you range, while strength enables you to use that range with ease. So if you have control, stability, and strength, you are ahead of the game.
Not being the most flexible dancer means your path might look a bit different. But the work you do around those limitations is what is going to make you stand out! So instead of stressing over what your body can’t do…start owning what it can do.