When I was eighteen during a difficult phone conversation, I had to tell my parents that I was giving up my full scholarship at one of the best engineering schools in the country to instead pursue a major in dance. Of course, my parents were supportive and cared about the desires in my heart, but their voices also revealed the sound of disappointment and uncertainty, that maybe it would be difficult for their son to have a financially stable career as a dancer and an artist.
For my parents, like many educated caring parents, they thought that the dance classes that were consuming so much of my time and passion, were socially an incredible outlet, and gave me a great place to express myself, discover myself, and create beautiful art. What they didn't realize, and maybe I didn't either at the time, is that I was learning so very much more in these dance classes.
In dance class, I was learning:
• Organization
• Problem Solving And Memory
• Being Calm Under Pressure
• Communication And Expression
• Leadership And Teamwork
• Individuality
• Balance Of Mind, Body And Spirit
• Decision Making Skills
• Confidence and Positive Self-Image
• Commitment To A Practice
• Diligence, And Commitment To A Team
• Productivity And Risk Taking
• Honesty/Integrity
• Motivation/Initiative
• Ability To Build Relationships
• Flexibility And Adaptability
• Standards For Success
• Self-Awareness
• Understanding Of Space/Time/Energy
• Numeracy, Accounting, And Structure
• How To Please/Market To An Audience
• Innovation/Passion/Performance
And I was not only learning the concepts of these profound areas, I was learning how to implement them in myself and in the world around me.
I graduated with an undergraduate and graduate degree in dance, performed in New York with a professional dance company, traveled the world performing and choreographing, became a professor of dance and chair of one of the best university dance departments, and went on to write and teach the world about all that dance is.
And what I have found out now is that the above list of skills that I learned in dance class, well…. these are the exact skills and traits that the top fortune 500 companies in this nation are looking for in their high end executives a recent study shows. And these are also perhaps the traits we find in most successful individuals in all walks of life. And underneath all of the pliés, tendus, contractions, dance phrases, and dance compositions, in dance class there was this other level of profound learning that was going on.
People sometimes wonder why do some individuals develop such a strong and unwavering passion for dance. I feel that often there is only one thing that makes a dancer. They are special individuals who sense and feel movement in a special and profound way. And when they discover dance, for the rest of their lives, THEY HAVE TO DANCE.
When someone begins a career in dance, there is no set pathway to follow. Each will individually find their own way and construct their own successful and fulfilling life. And the skills that we learn as dancers, allow us to be entrepreneurial and successful in worlds that extend far beyond the dance studio and the theater. There are an infinite amount of job opportunities for those who are trained as dancers. This is what I wish I knew during that tough phone conversation.
Dancers like most artists learn to be fearless, and constantly face the unknown and the opportunity for something new, something different, and something exciting. When a painter encounters the blank canvas, the writer the empty page, the actor the play script, the film maker the empty storyboard, the composer the empty musical staff, or when the dancer steps into an empty studio space, they are stepping into a realm of infinite possibility. There is no better or more exciting place to be.
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Louis Kavouras is the Chair of the Department of Dance at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Trained as a Modern Dancer, he dances with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company in New York and is curator of the Erick Hawkins Dance Collection/Hawkins West Institute at UNLV. He teaches dance, choreographs, lectures and writes about dance and its significance.
