Sifting right into the murky sands of age as reference point. I like it! This post really reminds me of a conversation I had recently with my 18 year old nephew who has thrown it all in to pursue professional dance. The idea of the "age-window" is very real; in this case 7 years to make it OR "get there enough" to then teach professionally etc.. But in reality its a mere construct methinks we've created; quite prevalent in sports. But then the question of the environment surfaces, how much does that influence these constructs of ours? Perhaps more prevalent in a big city…
I like the direction you took this in, I see this in the arts as well, and of course it’s prevalent in sports. To be specific, and I’m not sure why this is, society places a lot of fear into people’s heads, especially young people, when it comes to pursuing something that is “off the beaten path.” Sports, arts like ballet or writing, you name it, these never seem to be areas that, according to the standards of society amount to anything. But I don’t see it that way at all. For someone like your nephew dance can be an end to itself or a means to an end, ultimately they will be far better off for doing it, than going against the grain of their soul. Whatever happens I’m sure they’ll land on their feet by taking it one step at a time. If they’re lucky enough to have talent and passion, I wound argue it’s irresponsible not to take advantage of that.
Sifting right into the murky sands of age as reference point. I like it! This post really reminds me of a conversation I had recently with my 18 year old nephew who has thrown it all in to pursue professional dance. The idea of the "age-window" is very real; in this case 7 years to make it OR "get there enough" to then teach professionally etc.. But in reality its a mere construct methinks we've created; quite prevalent in sports. But then the question of the environment surfaces, how much does that influence these constructs of ours? Perhaps more prevalent in a big city…
I like the direction you took this in, I see this in the arts as well, and of course it’s prevalent in sports. To be specific, and I’m not sure why this is, society places a lot of fear into people’s heads, especially young people, when it comes to pursuing something that is “off the beaten path.” Sports, arts like ballet or writing, you name it, these never seem to be areas that, according to the standards of society amount to anything. But I don’t see it that way at all. For someone like your nephew dance can be an end to itself or a means to an end, ultimately they will be far better off for doing it, than going against the grain of their soul. Whatever happens I’m sure they’ll land on their feet by taking it one step at a time. If they’re lucky enough to have talent and passion, I wound argue it’s irresponsible not to take advantage of that.