SUCCESS & GROWTH FOR DANCE ARTISTS... 

Dear Dance Artist, No matter how passionate or how much you want to be successful,  if you don't understand the principles of wealth and Success & work in it... 

you will remain Broke & full of experiences  of trials & errors.

Passion is a tool for focus & direction, it is not the only required tool. 

We must break some individual & industry patterns to step into a higher level of Success. 

Some of these patterns include : 

1. Not investing in yourself 

Leave the realm of waiting for others to pay your price.

Leave the realm of waiting for others to Motivate you before you move.

Leave the realm of waiting for someone to save you .

Leave the realm of prioritizing clothes and shoes over books and training. 

Ignorance is not the excuse for everything,get wisdom ,in all thy getting, get understanding. 

If you don't do this at all cost ,you are bound to remain Broke!

2.  Not Fulfilling due diligence. 

Yes , we are in the age of information, Creativity & technology; however, you must not be deceived to think that all things can be acquired cheaply. 

The foundations for a sky scrapper take the longest to build. Not many see most of the foundational work because everything is underground. Always remember! ...It takes a longer time and alot of underground time to build things of essence that would last, sometimes years and years (especially in a developing country like Nigeria). Hence, I must say claiming expertise in areas you have very little knowledge of like "advanced" technique Training in styles like Horton & Ballet when you have never been in an actual proper horton/Ballet class does not do us any good; sometimes it is the reflection of our lack of access to dance education however, we cannot growth effectively like this even as individuals ;  Videos & workshops may provide you with some information ,  challenge you &  inspire you to create and improve on your dance and choreography but that is different from being an expert to the extent of teaching "Advanced" classes. 

It takes a long time and a lot of consistent training under a tutor to have access to that term "advanced" . Know that you can always be inspired & even create choreography but Teaching Technique is different and we owe it to ourselves and to the industry to build and not water the standards. Find out the International requirements for your style & begin to build towards it. 

When someone who trained professionally teaches you, Pay for it(if not in cash, by all means in Service if they agree). 

Don't expect to reep where you didn't sow or to receive quality attention for cheap service.The law of seed time and harvest time is still in effect till today; If you are not growing fast enough , instead of using media alone to showcase false (or real as case maybe) ,go and look into your investment and see the areas you need to invest in. 

Don't confuse flashy for growth...there are many broke media personalities and influencers and sometimes the noisiest is usually the empty barrels. 

Only those that understand their worth(which is truly gained by real investment) can demand for their service and receive it.

Think Globally with your art.

3. Being a jack of all Trades  : Focus Brings Blindness . 

There is absolutely nothing that is impossible for you to achieve; Yes! You can do multiple things; Yes! However,you can't be all at once at every point in your life!  

Choose a strategy and focus on it. Don't let peer pressure lose that focus . 

Choose a time frame and be diligent to it. 

You can't determine the possibilities of a situation if you are not 💯 immersed in it. Give your plans time , give your service time, give your resources time, give every idea time and focus and make sure you have done All. See to it that you build your capacity before adding other things to it. 

If you are trying to do all at once without building your capacity &  ability (which will take time) , you may never attain the excellence  and ability you need to add something else to your list of Resume. 

4. Focusing on Things that don't matter...

We live in a country where the creative industry is underdeveloped and is trying to take flight and hence we face common challenges such as poor infrastructure and imperfect/incomprehensive agreements between dance groups/companies , contractors e.t.c and imperfect/incomprehensive creative businesses , bad dance leadership . 

It is important to know this and not to hold long term distracting grudges over temporary industry Challenges that is common to the time.Don't blame them or yourself , if you (they) truly knew better ,you (they) will do better. 

Even things like past hurt and experiences can be a big distraction/ hinder to your success, Except you have a personal announced vendetta on your head ,you should not bother yourself with trivial matters.

There's only so much that another person can do for you. An average person barely has control over somethings and are limited by their own circumstances. Learn from each person their strengths only and leave their weakness to God. 

Great experiences are there to inspire us & Bad Experiences come to teach us not hate, not blame but vital lessons as well. Use the lessons for a better and wiser decision not a bitter one.

If your focus is on becoming a huge Success but you spend most of your day and most of your conversations on thing that have to do with new trends , movies , he said- she said, he did - they did  and to top it all your career has nothing to do with gossip columns or movies then you are being delusional. 

A sharp sword is more effective than a blunt one, focus on sharpening your end of the tool.

5. Not reading

I wouldn't want to over emphasize on this because this great saying does it best ...

"Readers are Leaders" 

How many books do you read in a month? 

If your excuse is you don't have time , then you are Never going to have time to be successful.

Dance books, creative books, financial books e.t.c 

Decide at least 30 - 60mins a day to read!

Read! Read!! Read!!! Read!!! 

6. Thoughts of helplessness 

Your real super power is your brain. 

Leave behind the thoughts of being helpless , no matter what circumstance, If you can think,you can achieve. 

Wake up and move into your day knowing you have value with you always, Your brain is your bank, Spend quality time with yourself thinking strategically about your art and your future.

Think about the lessons  ,think about what's working and what's not working, 

Think about how to improve on everything you did previously, Think about how you can add more value or solve a problem. 

The most successful dancers are dancers that use their bodies and their brains to carve their niche of solving problems.

P.S ...Don't confuse worry for thinking...so before you think... declutter your mind.

Value is where the money is...

Don't mistake time for Money, money is an exchange for Valued Time Not just in the time spent.

7. Be realistic : Depending on your level, dance cannot pay all your bills

Even in developed countries Money is an issue for most dancers, Just like every art, they have to find funding through Art based funds or get 2 or 3 jobs on the side sometimes just to pay their bills, if you are a Nigerian Dancer, I would advice you to have something else that supports your dance and your bills, something that will give you the opportunity to still dance. Explore other Avenues while you are still chasing your dream. Getting money is Always a result of value addition , it does not have to be Only dance and you don't have to feel guilty about it. 

As a growing dancer if you do not build your capacity to do other things ,you will become a newsance to the people closest to you or even the people that are trying to Support your dance career. Find a job that compliments your dance career.Even Dance company owners don't have all their bills met by just leading their team, they always have to solve a problem to do so  and sometimes outside their primary assignment and keep solving them. You must know that sometimes there are sacrifices beyond hard work that you must make for your dreams; Besides you were made for more. What you have to do is be disciplined enough to manage your time and energy well; Once you do this is should create less time for distractions and build more time for the things that matter. 

Dancing is a beautiful art, it may not be easy but it can be fulfilling; I hope this helped you! I hope you win today, I hope you win this week, I hope you Succeed. 

have a beautiful week.
Jemima Angulu.