Tip #8: FAITH Motivates.

"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"What was I doing here?" I remember thinking only a couple of weeks into a new dance class I was taking- Contemporary/Jazz. I had no background in it, and most of the other students in the class were younger than I was (including the teacher) and way more flexible. I just stared as some of them were doing full splits in between our warmup exercises while I was still trying to figure out how to touch my toes. Even the one guy in our class could point his foot more than I could.

Despite the frustration I was feeling, I kept coming back to class. And more and more, I found myself laughing a lot, and enjoying what I was learning. Our instructor- Christie Manning- always had some crazy story to tell us about herself, and she treated us all the same, no matter what level we were at. Her enthusiasm and friendliness just made things so much more comfortable for me. And I was feeling so much better about the class...

until, ... just a few weeks before our last class, she announced that we were going to do a performance for the school's open house. "What?" I thought, though I didn't say it out loud, "Are you crazy?". Don't get me wrong, I believed the others would be fine in it, but there was no way that I would be able to be a part of it. Not only could I hardly execute the technique for the choreography well, but I couldn't remember the sequence of movements enough to even fake it in class. How would I ever be able to do it for real in front of an audience?

At that point, I felt a little torn. I didn't feel good enough to be a part of the performance, and I didn't want to let the rest of the group down by messing up the beautiful dance we were practising. But then I felt as if I'd be letting myself down if I backed out of it.

So when Christie sent us all a video of our practice, I wrote to her saying that I knew that I was really behind in picking up the routine, but that I'd work hard and make her proud. At that point, I didn't really know if I could get the movements into my body in time for the performance, if ever, but I thought I'd try to see how much I could learn.

I'm not sure what I expected her to write back- that I could opt out of the performance if I wanted to, or that it may be a little overwhelming at my level, or maybe she wouldn't say anything at all? But when I read Christie's response, "I wasn't worried at all. You're fantastic!" something switched in me. It's funny how just a few words can make such a big difference. Even though I knew that she was aware I was not up to the level of the better dancers in the class, and that I was struggling, her reaction seemed so relaxed. Yes, I know it was just a little show at an open house. And yes, I know it was a short routine just to show what we did in this introductory class. But for me, it was a big deal. I had never done anything like it before.

Somehow, Christie's faith in me, or in what she thought I COULD accomplish, even though I hadn't gotten there yet, motivated me to get there. I felt much more determined to really learn the routine and to believe that I could perform it with the group.

I watched the video over and over again, downloaded the music that we were going to dance to, and made sure I learned the timing and the sequence. In the end, I know my technique still needed a lot of work and hopefully, that will get better over time. But I felt amazed that I could actually go from feeling completely lost in the choreography just a few weeks back, to knowing exactly where and when I needed to step, and being confident enough to do it with the other dancers in my class. And the night of the show, I finally felt a few brief moments where I actually "danced" the dance, instead of just thinking about where to place my body.

Though I know I have a long way to go, and am by no means thinking that I'm all of a sudden a contemporary-jazz dancer, that small first step encouraged me to continue and persevere, not just in dancing, but in other things I might pursue.

Christie, perhaps without even really knowing it, made the difference between my just giving up on the whole thing, and turning things around to push forward. She reminded me how good teachers look beyond where their students are currently. And with their actions and their words and their attitude, these teachers help their students see where they COULD get to, in the future. Yes, it is important to believe in yourself. But it always helps when you feel as if someone else believes in you first.

As a teacher, I know what it feels like to impart faith on students and see it motivate them to do something they never otherwise thought they could (See Teaching Tip #4). But it was great to experience this as a student. Thanks Christie.