Now semi-retired, I often look back at the many venues that I’ve had the pleasure to perform in; from a professional NFL football game, to an Elizabethan outdoor arena, to an intimate blackbox theater in New York. In each of those experiences, very vastly different, my intention was the same.
My intention was to go to the edge, to take risks, to throw caution to the wind, to be unapologetically vulnerable for my audiences.
When teaching, I often ask my students, “Did you take a risk? Did you go to the edge? Where you playing it safe?”
And in their young minds, they don’t know. They’re not quite understanding.
“Well what does it mean, Mr. Willie, to go to the edge? What does it mean to throw caution to the wind?”
So I often use my analogy of being at an amusement park.
I love rollercoasters. Rollercoasters are one of my favorite rides at an amusement park. And the anticipation of standing in line, waiting to ride the fastest and biggest rollercoaster in the park fills me with adrenaline.
Very much so like when you’re standing backstage waiting for that curtain to go up. I often say, when you’re standing behind that curtain and you hear the words “Lights… Sound… Go.”
Very much like when that rollercoaster starts that first climb, you’re like, “Wow… What am I in store for? I’ve seen the rollercoaster from the ground but now that I’m experiencing the rollercoaster first hand, I’m able to feel the drops and the corkscrews and the loops.”
Very much like what we should do as dancers. We should take the audience on that emotional rollercoaster, the highs and the lows.
As a professional dancer, taking risks artistically has always been an integral part of my career.
Years ago, while in residency at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, my company members and I decided to drive to San Francisco for the day via the Oregon coastline. While en route, we stopped along the coastline to get a better experience of the coastal waters. The elevation was so high, we were literally in the clouds. So to get a clearer view of the waters below we had to stop and step closer to the edge of the highway.
As I reluctantly inched towards the edge, flashbacks of stepping onto stage revisited my consciousness. It brought back feelings of – again – “Lights… Sound… Go!” It recreated the opportunity in my mind, “You know what? You have to take that leap and you have to jump.”
Just like I was in awe of the magnitude of the ocean and the mighty, mighty waves that she unleashed with grace and power, I knew at that moment when that curtain went up, I had to unleash that same grace and power. Courageously and with a purpose.
It was my duty. I had to go to the edge.
For most dancers, going to the edge artistically means throwing caution to the wind and becoming totally and unapologetically vulnerable. It demands reaching down into the inner depths of your soul, the dancer, grabbing onto that thing that has sustained you through your career, lighting it on fire, and watching it burn.
Taking risks for a dancer means being completely present and in the moment. It involves stripping yourself, the dancer, of judgments and insecurities. It challenges you, the dancer, to trust in yourself wholeheartedly while stepping into new realms of artistic exploration and expression.
Going to the edge is necessary for growth. It opens up possibilities for greater expression beyond – think about this – beyond the limitations of our own minds.
It challenges you, the dancer, to think outside the box. It gives you the choices to not only dance outside the box but on top of the box, underneath the box, on the side of the box, and through the box.
It creates a platform for you, the dancer, to transform yourself beyond the limits of your thinking.
Taking risks, or going to the edge, doesn't begin when the curtain goes up.
It starts – listen to this – it starts with the very first step in class. It starts with that first plié, it starts with that first contraction, it starts with that first inhale.
Taking risks means to intentionally adhering to the small voice inside of you saying, “You got this. You got this.”
That day when I stepped to the edge of the highway, I changed my intention. I no longer was reluctant. And me taking that risk, it changed my whole perspective of what taking risks means.
If I had been unwilling to take that next step, I would have missed out on the opportunity to witness nature at its finest.
Going to the edge involves being completely mindful of your intentions. It’s a choice that requires you, the dancer, to never second guess yourself.
Just like when the curtain is beginning to rise, or open, you take that breath, you plié, and you jump into the very essence of your craft.
You take the audience on that emotional rollercoaster.
You are unapologetically vulnerable.
You are completely passionate.
You are completely compassionate about sharing your craft with someone who definitely needs to witness this.
So once again, you take that breath, you plié, and you jump allowing your self confidence to catch you.
And then you fly…
And then you fly.
Featured image for Going to the Edge of Willie Hinton © Brooke Meyer
