The Art of Happy Dancing

As I traversed the eastern Alps last year, I started and finished Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.  My uncertain future loomed beyond those rugged and regal mountains. My career prospects were, in the best sense of the word, non-existent, and I was running out of unemployment support from the government. On the bright side, I knew what I wanted to do with the next stage of my life but I had no idea how I was going to do it. Then, almost like he knew what was going on in my head, Frankl quoted Nietzsche:  "He who has a why to live can overcome any how ." Piz Boe in the Dolomites Once we were back home, I decided to contact some people who had inspired me during my dance career, and one of them was Christina Mertzani (read my last blog post ) She graciously agreed to have a video chat with me and gave me great advice on how to start on this new path I had chosen. One of them really resonated with me and was so aligned with both Nietzsche and Frankl: before goin...

Warm, kind, generous, open, loving .  These words come to mind when I think about Christina Mertzani. We first met when she came as a guest trainer to the company I was working with at the time. Her presence in the studio was like the sun coming out after a long, grey German winter, and she always exuded such a positive and warm energy. Her classes left me feeling so motivated and inspired to move, and she managed to bring out the dynamic and confident side of me which very few teachers or choreographers have been able to do. That’s why I’m so grateful that she was willing to take time out of her busy schedule to answer some of my questions in regard to my previous post about dealing with drama and bad behavior. She has been an inspiring mentor to me since the beginning of my new journey, especially because her approach to her work is through encouragement and kindness. © George Terzis       Even though I only managed to scratch the surface of her wisdom and experien...

“So, you’re saying I’ve always been slower than the others?” “Yes.” “And you’re only telling me this now , after five shows?” before I knew it, my arms folded across my chest and my features twisted to reveal ‘the face’. You know the one. How dare he ridicule me in front of all my colleagues, when I was the ‘one’ who was chosen to dance the final solo in Marco Goecke’s ‘ Blushing ’? I had worked   my ass off for this, and I knew what I was doing. I didn’t deserve to be put on the spot like that, and I’m sure everyone in the room thought so, too.   * * * “Let’s try to use the back more, so we can…” before I could finish my sentence he turned his back to me and walked to the other end of the studio, just like that. I was stunned. What had I done to deserve such disrespect? Had I said something wrong? Am I a bad teacher? * * * These kinds of situations are not uncommon in the world of professional...

It's a strange time for all of us, but personally COVID-19 couldn’t have come at a better time. As disappointing as it is that all my classes for March and April were cancelled, I have the opportunity to use this time in isolation, apart from giving virtual ballet classes, to reflect on my teaching method and philosophy. The intention of my writing is not so much to provide information, rather a way to reflect and question myself in order to improve my skills as an educator as well as a person. A lot of what I write is based on my own opinion, and on what I have experienced so far on this new journey as a dance teacher. So here goes nothing. Mindfulness You will find a multitude of information online about mindfulness, as well as different mindfulness tasks and practices, so I’m not going to use this blog post to describe what it is. I will, however, attach some links at the end of the article. I first discovered mindfulness in 2018, while I was in-b...