Let yourself "be great"

These are the words dancer Juliet Doherty, age fifteen at the time, delivers to her audience at a TED Talk in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Take a moment to read this introductory paragraph to her talk:

"Fifteen-year-old Juliet Doherty has performed at Radio City Music Hall and New York City Center. She appears with the Radio City Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular, and, just this year, was awarded the Gold Medal in the Junior Women's division of the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the world's most revered ballet competitions. You can find her in the award winning Documentary FIRST POSITION: A Ballet Documentary which follows the competitive pathways of the ballet world. Doherty's passion and accessibility as a performer is inspiring young girls and others worldwide."

One section that I want to point out is the following:

Juliet says, "One day before the regional semi-finals a couple of years ago, I was being really hard on myself.  My parents said, 'It's time for you to stop competing.'  I was a little surprised.  The regionals were coming up and I was looking forward to competing.  But they said, 'That's it; no more.  Now it's time for you to just dance.'  To just perform, to just enjoy yourself."

With these words, Juliet touches on one of the most, in my opinion, controversial aspects of competitive dance.  At what point are you dancing only for the judges, having lost the joy of dancing for yourself?  At what point do you forget why you began dancing to begin with?  Her parents' response to the appearance of this issue in their daughter's dance career is overwhelmingly kind, thoughtful, and strong.  At first, I was as confused with the "stop competing" aspect of their advice as Juliet, but, upon thinking about it further, I realized how important this idea was.

So, to all you dancers (and athletes and artists and business-people), as Juliet so wisely says, dance for you.  Dance for you even when you compete because then and only then will the judges see your passion and your fire: if your craft comes from you, it's impossible for it not to be recognized.  I think this is why I find Juliet's dancing so captivating: she does what she loves, and she gives that love a voice through her every movement.

Here are the links to the two dances Juliet performed to win the Youth America Grand Prix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B12I6RwlEzY (Variation from La Fille Mal Gardee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvnQ3IYIPqQ ("I Wanna Dance with Somebody")

And, lastly, my favorite performance of hers.  It's called "Vida," which means "life" in Spanish.  I love it for its accents, strong music, and flawless execution.  I also love it for Juliet's passion, which just explodes out of her with every step she takes.