Dancing out of the womb

There's this notion that people have of talented folks-especially performing artists. The idea is that we were destined to be performers because we might have danced in front of our parents' video camera during family functions and therefore have a natural talent...a gift that once we get old enough will make us megastars! (...and I agree to some extent that some things do come naturally for SOME people)

We watch a clip of Beyonce as a child singing in her parents' living room in the 80's and think "wow she was made for it". The next clip is her flawless performance of "Single Ladies" at the VMAS. But what about all the stuff that happened in-between? No one wants to ear about her hours upon hours of rehearsals, voice lessons, dance classes. They just want to see the PERFECTION. Similarly, I think a lot of artists want Beyonce-like success without putting in the work.

I tend to forget about training until important auditions come up. Between work & life I fit auditions into my schedule sometimes without even reading the whole notice. I forget that if I don't periodically attend voice class, my voice will sound like a flemmy mess if I attempt to sing the sheet music that's been sitting it that dusty folder in my closet. And then I'm upset...I wonder why I do this all the time...I pass up auditions that I'd really like to attend but they require me to sing & I'm terrified so I end up not going for fear of being unprepared.

The same goes for acting-I wonder why the same monologues I've been doing for...IDK how long feel stale & robotic? Maybe because I should work on them, find new ways to do them OR find new ones (sometimes shit is so much easier than we make it huh?) DUH. So should I even question why I didn't book that gig? No. Should I blame myself for the stress? Of course.

Because let's face it. Nobody came dancing out of the womb. I'm pretty sure if Beyonce never practiced in those 6-inch stilettos she would fall on her face while cracking a note or two.
We have this talent but we convince ourselves that everything will fall into place eventually...that we can switch it on & off at will. That MIGHT work for some people but honestly...let's get real about it.

So should I stop talking myself into blowing off important things like working on the song from last week's voice class & get my shit together? Absolutely. Because it's my belief that for every performer that's not actively working on their craft, there are a dozen others that are. And they'll be happy to take those gigs from right under your feet and reap the benefits of your not so hard work.

I'm sure you've heard this quote before "The definition of CRAZY is doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result" ....Well I think that says it all. Don't you?