It is safe to say that all dancers have experienced some form of being rejected. Whether receiving an actual rejection letter, not seeing your name on a highly anticipated cast list, or being constantly looked over for opportunities despite hard work, that feeling of rejection has definitely landed. Here's a thought, rejection can be your "markers" indicating your closeness to your dream. Your favorite dancer has probably walked though your exact situation. Look at them now! Rejection in any form does not have to be the end for your career. It does not have to be the end for future opportunities. Your perspective means everything when dealing with the moments. Here's the thing, every "No" is not the sum of bad technique or a terrible audition. While it is important and healthy to be honest with your performance, it is equally important to know that sometimes you just may not "fit" because the director or company is looking for something specific. Did you know that sometimes you can be the best dancer in the room and still not be accepted? Sometimes you can technically (pun totally intended) soar in an audition piece but the role is given to someone who is not as technically proficient or "whacked out" because you don't exude the confidence needed for the role? That was, at one point, my reality. Realities can change.
The moment I had to face that truth, I waited for my director to leave the studio and I cried. It was in that moment every gem I'd been given about the dance industry coalesced and I understood that being a dancer is about much more than regurgitating choreography and even regurgitating it well. Without a body choreography can still be birthed. It begins with imagination. The body is what actualizes the thoughts. If then, the body is what brings life to this brooding work, how much more should the body fully express what was brightly conceptualized in the mind. Everyone can see it. It must come alive! So that form of rejection caused me to dig deeper into my dancer bag. I allowed that moment to build my artistry, confidence and ZAH! *in my Lauren Anderson voice*.
There may be a time where you aren't accepted into a program or fellowship. You gather all of your materials and have been working diligently at your craft just to receive a "At this time we will not be moving forward..." email. What do you do from there? You have be a couple of options. One. You can question your expertise, creativity and passion or you can add that email to you personal "beautiful story loading" folder. Sometimes, although this may be a hard pill to swallow, an organization doesn't want to take a chance. People will, at times, need to know you have been tried. They need to see that you are a heavy-hitter. And yes, that will include being looked over until someone or some organization that is stamped in the industry endorses you. That is okay! you know what it should encourage you to do? Stay Ready!
There are more examples I can give but I want you to take a moment to reflect on each of your moments of rejection. With this information and things you already know, be honest with yourself and find comfort with each "no". I am not telling you to brace yourself for a lifetime of "No", but rather coaching you to truthfully assess each one and build from them according to reason. At the end of my Dance Theatre of Harlem intensive I received an assessment from one of the ballet teachers and it truly discouraged me. Not only was my Summer experience really painful but I did not feel like myself at all. On top of it all I read a less than decent feedback from a teacher who knows what they're talking about. Honestly, I did not perform my best all Summer. I was under great stress and mental warfare. That is the truth. However, I took a page from the book of Misty Copeland and folded that paper to keep in my wallet. Every so often I read it and after that Summer experience I went on to do great things and by God's grace I shall continue. I had no idea that was only the prelude to my beginning. I could have shrunk back in dance or quit altogether. Instead, I chose to rise from it. Even now, I am still rising. Against everything I am rising.
Will you join me?
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