On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:00:17 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> There's a little kid called Aden who comes to this particular venue. We
> know he's called Aden because although he's less than 3 feet tall, he
> can flail around the dance floor with energy, stamina and enthusiasm
> that would put international dance champions to shame. No technique, but
> it looks fabulous anyway.

Similarly, when I used to live in Minnesota, there was a group of us who 
would go out on Friday afternoons after the plant closed and play 
football (soccer, not American football).  There was a kid who used to 
show up on occasion who was absolutely incredible.  We had a couple of 
guys who used to play professionally in Europe, and this kid could run 
circles around them.

One day, he took the ball from one end of the field to the other (we 
didn't play on a full size field, but on a field set up for 'kiddie 
soccer') without letting the ball touch the ground.  The 40 or so of us 
from the plant just watched, including the two ex-pros.  I'm sure they'd 
seen something like that before, and could probably have done it, but it 
was just completely effortless and poetic the way he did that.

He ended by kicking the ball into the net using one of those 'over your 
head' backwards kicks.  It was simply amazing - I'm pretty sure he got 
applause for the display. :)

> The other day we were practising for the upcoming competition, and
> Debbie told us that enthusiasm is basically more important than
> technique. (Provided your technique isn't hopeless, of course.)

Enthusiasm is a good thing.  :)

> Anyway, we probably _would_ dance in a more brightly lit arena. I was
> just pointing out that on this occasion, we weren't being quite as brave
> as it appears in the picture. ;-)
> 
> (If I was good with the GIMP, I'd have a go at trying to recreate the
> /actual/ lighting levels...)

I can pretty much imagine myself, it sounds like it was pretty dark.

>>> I discovered that the lady stopped to ask whether we're professional
>>> dancers. (!)
>>
>> Well done. :)
> 
> LOL! It was nothing. ;-)

Remember what I said about people who are competent at something thinking 
that what they do is nothing, when in fact it really is an achievement?  
That applies here. :)

> Mmmmmmyeah... but the other difference is that a pro usually has the
> time to dedicate hundreds of hours per month to practise. That makes a
> big difference.

Only if they have talent.  I've seen people who practice at what they do 
professionally for thousands of hours a month who still don't do a very 
good job at it.  Practice helps, but having the innate ability also helps.

> Look at the other people in the photo. How many grey hairs can you see?
> How many fat beer bellies? How many wrinkles? Most of these people don't
> even dance, or if they do, it's a casual saunter around the floor. And
> then there's me, a young slip of a thing, practising my moves for a
> dance competition with my lady.
> 
> [It still seems very wrong to me that my lady is twice my age and yet
> she can dance rings around me. I just don't have the stamina...]

Building stamina comes with practice.  It can be slow moving, but  
additional cardio workout probably would help with that, too.  But it 
takes time.

> Trust me, if some of our classmates had been there, nobody would have
> even noticed us. Some of these people dance almost literally without
> actually touching the floor. (Not forgetting that the current raining
> national R&R dance champions are apparently in our class...)
> 
> We only look good because there was nobody there better than us. In
> dancing, there is *always* somebody somewhere who's better than you.
> It's just a question of how far away. ;-)

In any field, there's always someone who is better or knows more.  
Welcome to life. :)

Jim

Post a reply to this message