Originally Published June 13, 2022

If a lot of listening and talking could predicate a trainer as someone passionate about doing his job, what more if that teacher involves a lot of visual and physical demonstrations? This is one of my realizations after training over 60 dancers for a citywide competition. We might’ve celebrated for winning silver but the 15-year-old me felt that we could’ve gotten gold. Nobody remembers that 2nd placer! This marks Lesson #1, You can prepare all you want but without character, any form of winning can feel like losing. This taught me Lesson #2, you might feel like you don’t belong to the people who you share a passion with but your passion can always make you feel like you belong to it. In my case, I was not comfortable among dancers if we were not dancing but up to this day, I still know that dance is a part of me.

The learning experience is one of the reasons why it’s best to enroll your children in summer dance camps. Even if you don’t want to, you won’t be able to stop your kids from dancing anyway. No thanks to TikTok acquiring Musical.ly. Going back, note that everything physical is also cognitive. If memorizing a sonnet sounds like hard work, try learning a backflip. Dangerous, innit? Lesson #3, endure injuries. I literally broke my bones a myriad of times before and though it doesn’t hurt anymore, the memories around it are indelible. Only take calculated risks.

Dancing will bring you out of your shell. You have probably seen the award-winning choreographer, author, and director, Mari Madrid in the music video of Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself. Almost all of her storytelling with her husband Keone Madrid were impacted by her degree in creative writing. Without a background in dance, she cited that her writing would not turn out to be that authentic. Lesson #4, finding your voice.

Dr. Arnel Calvario, being one of the pillars of modern dance—or what we call hip hop as a genre of dance—started popping his moves in 1997. Performers who know him understand the importance of looking back at their roots. He is now known as the North Star of SoCal Dance Community—a society behind your favorite artists' dance routines, especially Kpop groups. It may seem like an overstatement but dancers are agents of change. Without learning and unlearning, performing arts will go obsolete. If you don’t innovate, you would always hear the crowd murmuring “What’s new?” This is why a lot of civil rights movements in the 70s and 80s are associated with a style of dance that defined a generation. Lesson #5, Influence people. Turn passion into purpose.

Yes, there are small big things that we should pay attention to. On the global stage, dance styles such as Krump have already been considered an art form just like ballet. Movements taken literally capture time and history as references to the future. Without small details, you cannot achieve grandeur. A simple knee-jerk could change an “okay” piece to a remarkable performance.

Lesson #6, stay teachable. With deep work, you can meet your deadlines in a day or two but know that all the creativity that leads to you accomplishing a mission credits to a lifetime of practice. Passion is a waste of emotions if it has no use. The truth is it is hard to sustain a daily life as an amateur. Unlucky dancers like me lived in a bubble where we forget everything outside. So when it pops you realize that you have responsibilities. Ben Chung, one of the Kinjaz and a former member of the Jabbawockeez said that we should hold on to life with a loose grip. If you’re not fortunate enough to make a living out of what you love to do, it is never wasted. Passion alone is not enough. 7th and so far the last lesson, Purpose. They say live a little, I say dance a little. Even if it makes you look like a sore iguana. And by the way, you don’t have to record it.

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