Why does it seem as if many in our society are obsessed with being better than some one else? Perhaps we are limiting ourselves when we look at someone else’s ability and not at our own? It can be beneficial to see what others are doing but not necessarily to aim to be the same. We are all different and it is that difference that makes us special and that is what I feel should be encouraged.

Funny how you have a train of thought and then you read an article or someone says something and you realize all roads are leading to a similar thought process although each idea might have started from a different perspective. A dancer’s blog has just started a discussion on the merits of these competitions and whether it leads to work, opportunities and for whom? Are the dancers who have won competitions looked at more favourably when applying to companies for work or do certain schools, teachers look on this as a feeding ground for their own purposes? What is the impact on dancers who don’t win?

The competitiveness in ballet is something I find very disturbing because in order to compete many things have to be equal and they never can be in an art like ballet. Let us start with the instrument – the body itself. There are similar body types but no two bodies are identical. Depending on body structure limitations can inhibit technique and forcing bodies to achieve what they are not constructed to achieve is dangerous and stressful. No two brains are the same. The musicality of different dancers can range from the sublime to the adequate. Training of dancers vary from teacher to teacher as does choreography. And then we come to the audience, the final judges at the end of the day. They have preferences often based on the individual’s personality and that is something that cannot be trained or acquired.