CHOREOGRAPHER'S BLOCK!
Some of us may have heard of the term - "Writer's Block", and if you have not, it is defined as the condition of being unable to to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing. Scary! Imagine you have a deadline to submit a script and you encounter this monster called 'Writer's block'! I have not necessarily been a steady scriptwriter (until now); it has not been a major demand on my profession, and even if I had to write and I get stuck, I have the most amazing script-writing mentor who ALWAYS comes through for me! (SHOUT-OUT to Mrs. Adeola Ike! God bless you real good ma!!!) But I have found that as a Dance Teacher and choreographer I do get stuck sometimes. I have a 5-minute track to work with and by the time I get to the second minute I am there looking at the mirror wondering, "Err... Okay what next?" STUCK! Worse part is I could play the track like two days later and still get stuck at the same point! It could be very frustrating but I am learning to look deeper than the surface of a problem before trying to fix it.
So why do I get stuck? A number of reasons for me;
1. COMPROMISE: When it comes to teaching kids I am very careful about my song choices. I do not work with only 'Christian' schools but I still make use of Gospel music when choreographing. The thing with Gospel music is that if you search well enough, you will find a plethora of songs with various tempos and beats. There are certain scenarios where I just use a generally 'inspiring' or 'motivating' or simply fun song or I simply just use Classical instrumentals (especially for kids Ballet). But times when I pick a song that is utterly meaningless and of no use to a child's spiritual and moral health, I struggle big time. This always happens as a result of me hearing the beat and liking it so much that I begin to give excuses for the useless lyrics. In such a case, I WILL SURELY KEEP GETTING STUCK. It could be God's prompting for me to change the song or merely the fact that God ain't helping me with creativity on something stupid. And I most definitely rely on HIM for inspiration.
2. LACK OF FOCUS: When my mind is in a million and one places, I never achieve anything concrete. I could start out like there is promise, but along the line - as my mind wanders about - I get stuck. I know some people are pros at multitasking, I am too - but not when choreographing a dance routine (HAHAHA). What works best for me is channeling my spirit, soul and body into the task at hand and not allowing distractions. Hence, the reason I love to work on my choreography very early in the morning before my boys wake up.
3. FATIGUE: When the mind and body are tired, give them some rest. Sometimes, it is not that you are not gifted enough, it could simply be your body calling for a reboot. Consider how your laptop starts getting very hot (and some develop faults that make them crash) if you have been using it for way too many hours. All it could need is for you to hibernate it or put it to sleep for a little while so it cools down and resumes work effectively again. There are days when I have been awake and into so much work from about 3AM that by the time it is getting to 5PM I am no longer myself (LOL!!!) I would feel like the world is coming to an end if I do not take a break. At that point, there is no amount of love for what I do that will bring inspiration o. What I need is to take a break, then start again later.
4. WRONG TIME/SEASON: There is time for EVERYTHING under the sun. I am learning to understand my times and season. Creativity is not something that descends on you on and off - once you are creative, you are creative. But when timing is not right to work on a creative piece, you just may keep getting stuck. Let me give an example here, I have always loved hip-hop dance style. I love to go on YouTube and watch several hip-hop choreographers over and over again. But I just never had been able to choreograph a good hip-hop number. I would try to copy moves I see online but keep fumbling and getting frustrated. There have been schools where I made the mistake of teaching the kids hip-hop routines... Let us just say I buried my head on the days of performance. Towards the end of last year I decided it was time to quit trying to be like someone else but just be the best version of the me God has created. I began to take online courses to improve myself and then I would challenge myself to listen to a fast-paced song and just move to it no matter how stupid it felt. Constantly doing this, I realized I started getting more comfortable. For a period, I had to quit stalking any dancer online and just went through a 'purge'. I would listen to Lecrae and just soak in his lyrics and dance. Then recently I got a call from an old school client who wanted me to come choreograph their senior school students. The consultant then said the scariest words - "I want them to do a lovely hip-hop routine". Fear caught me but honestly, I really felt it was time. I agreed to do it and unlike previous times when I would struggle for days, I picked a song, stood in front of my mirror and in less than an hour I was close to being done with the whole track. What?!! How did that happen? Me that does not even know how to do hip-hop? Time. I have been improving myself, been studying and it all culminated into a know-how-ability: my season of reaping the seeds of hardwork and diligence.
The most important thing to note is what Jesus Christ has promised us in John 7:37-39;
"Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, 'From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.'" But He was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him [as Saviour] were to receive afterward... - AMPLIFIED Translation.
Did you read that? From your innermost being will flow CONTINUALLY rivers of living water. You will continually be inspired as long as you receive the Holy Spirit.
Block-what? This river ain't running dry because my Father doesn't reverse His gifts!
So why do I get stuck? A number of reasons for me;
1. COMPROMISE: When it comes to teaching kids I am very careful about my song choices. I do not work with only 'Christian' schools but I still make use of Gospel music when choreographing. The thing with Gospel music is that if you search well enough, you will find a plethora of songs with various tempos and beats. There are certain scenarios where I just use a generally 'inspiring' or 'motivating' or simply fun song or I simply just use Classical instrumentals (especially for kids Ballet). But times when I pick a song that is utterly meaningless and of no use to a child's spiritual and moral health, I struggle big time. This always happens as a result of me hearing the beat and liking it so much that I begin to give excuses for the useless lyrics. In such a case, I WILL SURELY KEEP GETTING STUCK. It could be God's prompting for me to change the song or merely the fact that God ain't helping me with creativity on something stupid. And I most definitely rely on HIM for inspiration.
2. LACK OF FOCUS: When my mind is in a million and one places, I never achieve anything concrete. I could start out like there is promise, but along the line - as my mind wanders about - I get stuck. I know some people are pros at multitasking, I am too - but not when choreographing a dance routine (HAHAHA). What works best for me is channeling my spirit, soul and body into the task at hand and not allowing distractions. Hence, the reason I love to work on my choreography very early in the morning before my boys wake up.
3. FATIGUE: When the mind and body are tired, give them some rest. Sometimes, it is not that you are not gifted enough, it could simply be your body calling for a reboot. Consider how your laptop starts getting very hot (and some develop faults that make them crash) if you have been using it for way too many hours. All it could need is for you to hibernate it or put it to sleep for a little while so it cools down and resumes work effectively again. There are days when I have been awake and into so much work from about 3AM that by the time it is getting to 5PM I am no longer myself (LOL!!!) I would feel like the world is coming to an end if I do not take a break. At that point, there is no amount of love for what I do that will bring inspiration o. What I need is to take a break, then start again later.
4. WRONG TIME/SEASON: There is time for EVERYTHING under the sun. I am learning to understand my times and season. Creativity is not something that descends on you on and off - once you are creative, you are creative. But when timing is not right to work on a creative piece, you just may keep getting stuck. Let me give an example here, I have always loved hip-hop dance style. I love to go on YouTube and watch several hip-hop choreographers over and over again. But I just never had been able to choreograph a good hip-hop number. I would try to copy moves I see online but keep fumbling and getting frustrated. There have been schools where I made the mistake of teaching the kids hip-hop routines... Let us just say I buried my head on the days of performance. Towards the end of last year I decided it was time to quit trying to be like someone else but just be the best version of the me God has created. I began to take online courses to improve myself and then I would challenge myself to listen to a fast-paced song and just move to it no matter how stupid it felt. Constantly doing this, I realized I started getting more comfortable. For a period, I had to quit stalking any dancer online and just went through a 'purge'. I would listen to Lecrae and just soak in his lyrics and dance. Then recently I got a call from an old school client who wanted me to come choreograph their senior school students. The consultant then said the scariest words - "I want them to do a lovely hip-hop routine". Fear caught me but honestly, I really felt it was time. I agreed to do it and unlike previous times when I would struggle for days, I picked a song, stood in front of my mirror and in less than an hour I was close to being done with the whole track. What?!! How did that happen? Me that does not even know how to do hip-hop? Time. I have been improving myself, been studying and it all culminated into a know-how-ability: my season of reaping the seeds of hardwork and diligence.
The most important thing to note is what Jesus Christ has promised us in John 7:37-39;
"Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, 'From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.'" But He was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him [as Saviour] were to receive afterward... - AMPLIFIED Translation.
Did you read that? From your innermost being will flow CONTINUALLY rivers of living water. You will continually be inspired as long as you receive the Holy Spirit.
Block-what? This river ain't running dry because my Father doesn't reverse His gifts!
Tamara Ajasa,
DanceMusicologyConcepts, 2018.
Comments
Post a Comment