12 Dance Stars Share the Worst Advice They Ever Received
Raise your hand if you’ve received bad advice from well-meaning friends or family (or strangers, tbh) who don’t know anything about what it really takes to be a dancer.
*everyone raises hands*
Sometimes it’s even dance insiders whose advice can send you down the wrong path. We’ve been asking pros about the worst advice they’ve ever received in our “Spotlight” Q&A series, and rounded up some of the best answers:
Miami City Ballet’s Nathalia Arja
Her answer:
“I’ve been told, ‘be the best’ but I completely disagree with that. I believe that the best advice you could give to a dancer is ‘be YOUR best and every day try to be a little better than yesterday.’ That’s my mind set—I think that’s a healthy way of thinking for a healthy career!”
B-girl and choreographer Ephrat Asherie
Her answer:
“Someone told me to always have another dancer in the corner of my eye to compare myself to ‘because that will push you to be better.’ I actually believe the opposite to be true. Your inner drive to grow has to far outshine any external stimuli or comparison you may draw with someone else. That will give you longevity and sustenance. As my breaking mentor Richard Santiago (aka Break Easy) once told me, ‘The biggest battle you’ll have will always be with yourself.’ ”
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Leta Biasucci
Her answer:
“You should straighten your hair more often.”
Commercial darling Emma Portner
Photo by Quinn Wharton
Her answer:
“That I shouldn’t move to New York.”
The Washington Ballet’s Ashley Murphy
Her answer:
“Stay where you are comfortable.”
Tap dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher
His answer:
” ‘You’ll sleep when you’re dead!’ is a common expression. I disagree—I have to sleep while I’m living, too…”
Former NYCB and freelance star Kaitlyn Gilliland
Her answer:
“Don’t think too much.”
Martha Graham Dance Company’s PeiJu Chien-Pott
Her answer
: ” ‘You will never be able to dance again after you have a child.’ As a matter of fact, I auditioned for the Martha Graham Dance Company twice, two years apart. The first audition was before I had my daughter, and I was not picked. The second time was right after I had my baby, and I was hired!”
Pennsylvania Ballet’s Sterling Baca
His answer:
” ‘The best thing you could do is just kinda mark the whole thing so you are able to get through it.’ I would rather fall on my face giving everything I had.”
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Hope Boykin
Her answer:
“I will never forget being told that I had learned all I could where I was studying at the time, and that I should go and try something else. Ultimately, that is what I had to do, but I never worked harder to stay on the path I knew was meant for me. I would never speak to a student in such a way, but it didn’t deter me. It only pushed me toward my goals.”
San Francisco Ballet’s Sarah Van Patten
Her answer:
“That I’ll never be able to do something or that a specific role isn’t for me. Anything that makes me feel limited.”
International guest artist Joy Womack
Her answer
: “That the best thing an artist can be is a blank canvas.”
