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Showing posts with the label resilience

Finding the key to the right door (an interview with Lauren Murray)

Many inspiring people have crossed my path in this life so far. One of these people is a  lovely soul, a kindred spirit, when I was starting my professional dance training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.  As a first-year student, I used to watch her in class and be awed at her flawless technique, her unwavering work ethic, and her unrelenting desire to learn and improve. We didn't have much to do with each other back then, but she continued to be an inspiration to me throughout my training. It was only after I had graduated myself that we met again in Europe and our friendship began to flourish. I’m talking about my lovely friend, Lauren Murray. In spite of her talent and passion, Lauren hasn’t always had it easy in her career, but she always maintained her fierce determination and kept pushing through to achieve her goals no matter what. On top of that, she is always kind, generous and understanding. How does she do it? How does someone stay so focused a...

A note to my younger self on resilience

"If your heart is broken, make art with the pieces." - Shane Koyczan I was meant to give an online lecture this month to the students of a private dance school on developing resilience for a dance career. It doesn't look like this is happening anymore, but I thought it would be a good topic for a blog post.  On the reality TV show RuPaul's Drag Race, usually in the second last episode, RuPaul would ask the semi-finalists what they would say to their younger selves. I hate to admit it, but this part always made me wipe away a tear or two. It also made me proud to be able to call myself an artist and to be part of this wonderful industry. I took this as inspiration for this post, instead of a factual essay on what resilience is and how to get more of it. I will put a few links to some great TED talks at the end, in case you're interested. Here is something I wish someone had written to me before I left for my first European audition tour in 2008, but in a way I'...