4 ms·

You could save money from your programming job and fund yourself a dancing academy. Or even better, find a way to mix the two. Never stop dreaming!

gcatalfamo 10y ago
I'm sorry but dancing is definitely not one of those professions where "if you believe you can do it". Depending on the specific dancing style there are strict body types and features that you need to have, and not all of them can be acquired by training. So yeah, nature is not fair but feel-good comedies don't always apply to real life.
- truth_sentinell 10y ago
  Unless you're severely handicapped, I don't understand why wouldn't you be able to dance whatever type of dance you want. If you have all your limbs and can walk, you can perfectly dance whatever is that you want. If you're fat and can't dance no more that one minute without getting out of breath, get in shape and train endurance. As simple as that. If you're 5.4" or less and feel intimidated dancing with a taller woman, find yourself a woman of your same height. You shouldn't be cutting away wings and locking up birds in cages telling them they can't fly. Mental handicap imposed by oneself -or others, which at the end of the day ends being oneself- is the worst of all.
  - raverbashing 10y ago
    > If you're fat and can't dance no more that one minute without getting out of breath, get in shape and train endurance. As simple as that. If you think that all it takes for dancing is "not getting out of breath" then I can see why you would think "anyone can do it"
    - rfrey 10y ago
      I dunno but I think you guys might be talking past each other a bit - this discussion is different depending on whether "dancing" is ballroom dancing, e.g. or ballet, modern, or what have you. Although even with modern, there is a strong school aiming to democratize dance. My family were performers in Kaeja D'Dance (http://www.kaeja.org/ http://www.kaeja.org/) Porch View Dances this year (look it up if you like dance) and the performances were very good. The choreographers were very careful to work around body types and capabilities.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    This is silly. This is like claiming that just because you have arms and legs and can run, you can play football. Yes, almost anyone can toss a ball around, and lots of people can play amateur football (choose whichever definition of "football" you want here) on the weekend with friends. But very, very few people can make a real living playing football.
- blub 10y ago
  Besides being reasonably fit and having two legs I can't think of anything else one might need to dance as a profession.
  - cyberferret 10y ago
    That's a bit like saying "besides having reasonably good eyesight and ten working fingers that can type, I can't think of anything else one might need to be a developer as a profession..."
    - truth_sentinell 10y ago
      Well, obviously you need to need to train ... [...], but OP I was referring to, implied that you have to be born a certain way in order to dance, which is completely BS as long as you have all your limbs and good health.
- JaumeGreen 10y ago
  You have it right. Others have pointed to you that to dance you only need to be able to move, to that I agree. But between dancing and have a profession out of dancing there's a big difference. There are lots of reason why now I can't base my income in dancing, I'm telling them as to give a data point as to why it's not allways as easy as "if you want you can". First: I don't live alone anymore. Married with some obligations. My income needs have grown, even though there are two sources of income. Second: Physical activities require discipline, that I lack, and time, which is now spent on my "new" job, my partner and housework. Third: There are several possible incomes for dancing. None of them make the cut as a great source of income. * Payed exhibition dancing is usually done by younger and more talented people, also it's inconsistent income. Done a bit, enough not to find it feasible. * Competitions don't pay that much, lots of politics in there. * Teaching (which is what I love) doesn't pay much unless you have a name, with low salary you'd need lots of classes, but names teachers get most of them. * Staff work pays less than teaching, necessary for the school to function, but boring. Fourth: compatible schedules. Being with someone that lives in "the real world" means that working 15 to 23/24 is not seeing them (staff+classes+parties). That and money where the primary causes for my change of career. Priorities matter. Fifth: People tend to prefer tall, fit, young, handsome male dancers and short, fit, young, beatiful female dancers. Each point where you diverge it's a handicap, I have several. So yes, I could have kept on my dream job, but I would have to leave behind too many things that I need, like my SO, and would have to go back to living with flatmates. All that, in my early 40's, is not what I want of my life. "Never stop dreaming!", "if you believe you can do it" are nice phrases to throw at people, but you can cause them to lose their grounding in reality, where sometimes dreams have to be crushed for the greatest good.
  - truth_sentinell 10y ago
    I understand. You're balancing the life you have now vs your dream career. And you don't foresee anything better in the latter. It's ok. Due to today's society, a lot of us sacrifice what we love doing for economical comfort. I never said it was easy. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and most of the time you have to make sacrifices in order to do what you love. In your case, it means lowering your living standards, but that's up to you, I respect that.

gcatalfamo 10y ago

I'm sorry but dancing is definitely not one of those professions where "if you believe you can do it". Depending on the specific dancing style there are strict body types and features that you need to have, and not all of them can be acquired by training. So yeah, nature is not fair but feel-good comedies don't always apply to real life.

truth_sentinell 10y ago
Unless you're severely handicapped, I don't understand why wouldn't you be able to dance whatever type of dance you want. If you have all your limbs and can walk, you can perfectly dance whatever is that you want. If you're fat and can't dance no more that one minute without getting out of breath, get in shape and train endurance. As simple as that. If you're 5.4" or less and feel intimidated dancing with a taller woman, find yourself a woman of your same height. You shouldn't be cutting away wings and locking up birds in cages telling them they can't fly. Mental handicap imposed by oneself -or others, which at the end of the day ends being oneself- is the worst of all.
- raverbashing 10y ago
  > If you're fat and can't dance no more that one minute without getting out of breath, get in shape and train endurance. As simple as that. If you think that all it takes for dancing is "not getting out of breath" then I can see why you would think "anyone can do it"
  - rfrey 10y ago
    I dunno but I think you guys might be talking past each other a bit - this discussion is different depending on whether "dancing" is ballroom dancing, e.g. or ballet, modern, or what have you. Although even with modern, there is a strong school aiming to democratize dance. My family were performers in Kaeja D'Dance (http://www.kaeja.org/ http://www.kaeja.org/) Porch View Dances this year (look it up if you like dance) and the performances were very good. The choreographers were very careful to work around body types and capabilities.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  This is silly. This is like claiming that just because you have arms and legs and can run, you can play football. Yes, almost anyone can toss a ball around, and lots of people can play amateur football (choose whichever definition of "football" you want here) on the weekend with friends. But very, very few people can make a real living playing football.
blub 10y ago
Besides being reasonably fit and having two legs I can't think of anything else one might need to dance as a profession.
- cyberferret 10y ago
  That's a bit like saying "besides having reasonably good eyesight and ten working fingers that can type, I can't think of anything else one might need to be a developer as a profession..."
  - truth_sentinell 10y ago
    Well, obviously you need to need to train ... [...], but OP I was referring to, implied that you have to be born a certain way in order to dance, which is completely BS as long as you have all your limbs and good health.
JaumeGreen 10y ago
You have it right. Others have pointed to you that to dance you only need to be able to move, to that I agree. But between dancing and have a profession out of dancing there's a big difference. There are lots of reason why now I can't base my income in dancing, I'm telling them as to give a data point as to why it's not allways as easy as "if you want you can". First: I don't live alone anymore. Married with some obligations. My income needs have grown, even though there are two sources of income. Second: Physical activities require discipline, that I lack, and time, which is now spent on my "new" job, my partner and housework. Third: There are several possible incomes for dancing. None of them make the cut as a great source of income. * Payed exhibition dancing is usually done by younger and more talented people, also it's inconsistent income. Done a bit, enough not to find it feasible. * Competitions don't pay that much, lots of politics in there. * Teaching (which is what I love) doesn't pay much unless you have a name, with low salary you'd need lots of classes, but names teachers get most of them. * Staff work pays less than teaching, necessary for the school to function, but boring. Fourth: compatible schedules. Being with someone that lives in "the real world" means that working 15 to 23/24 is not seeing them (staff+classes+parties). That and money where the primary causes for my change of career. Priorities matter. Fifth: People tend to prefer tall, fit, young, handsome male dancers and short, fit, young, beatiful female dancers. Each point where you diverge it's a handicap, I have several. So yes, I could have kept on my dream job, but I would have to leave behind too many things that I need, like my SO, and would have to go back to living with flatmates. All that, in my early 40's, is not what I want of my life. "Never stop dreaming!", "if you believe you can do it" are nice phrases to throw at people, but you can cause them to lose their grounding in reality, where sometimes dreams have to be crushed for the greatest good.
- truth_sentinell 10y ago
  I understand. You're balancing the life you have now vs your dream career. And you don't foresee anything better in the latter. It's ok. Due to today's society, a lot of us sacrifice what we love doing for economical comfort. I never said it was easy. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and most of the time you have to make sacrifices in order to do what you love. In your case, it means lowering your living standards, but that's up to you, I respect that.