我被告知两次不应该跳舞，但我只听了一次。第一次是在我还是个初学者时，当时我接触salsa才几个星期。我的老师非常气馁，认为我天生不适合跳salsa。他直截了当地告诉我说“可能舞蹈不适合你”。他的建议并没有帮到我，因为我没有抓住他说的重点，所以他坚持认为我没有跳舞的天赋。 I’ve been told twice that I shouldn’t dance. I only listened once. The first was when I was a beginner. Only a few weeks into my dance journey, my instructor became frustrated by my lack of ‘natural’ ability in Salsa. He point-blank told me “maybe dance just isn’t for you.” His advice didn’t help me at all. Because I was not grasping his ‘concepts’, he instead determined that I was not built to dance. 我没有听从这个老师的建议。我决定我要继续坚持跳舞 — 就算只是证明我可以跳舞。现在我可以一边旅游一边跳舞，我有一个自己的舞蹈学校，我组织过两次舞蹈盛事。我很高兴当时没有听从老师的建议，我很高兴坚持追寻自己的梦想没有放弃。 I didn’t listen to this teacher. I decided I was going to dance – if only to prove I could. Now, I get to travel and teach dance. I co-run a school. I co-organize two congresses. I’m so glad I didn’t listen. I’m so glad I chased my dream. 如果你的老师或者朋友告诉你你不适合跳舞，没有关系；如果你心底那个小小的声音在质疑自己不适合跳舞，也没有关系。重要的是你想跳舞。我的决心使我成为了一个舞者。别人的想法不重要，因为是我想跳舞，这是我的决心！ It doesn’t matter if your teacher or your friend told you that you couldn’t dance. It doesn’t matter if that little voice in your head tells you that you can’t. All that matters is that you want to dance. My determination made me a dancer. His opinion didn’t matter, because I wanted to dance. I was determined. 第二次我被告知我不应该跳舞时，我已经是一个中级舞者了。这一次我听从了建议。因为这个建议值得我去听。当时因为一个新动作学不好我对自己非常失望。我气自己要投入那么大的精力去学这个新动作，我应该完全有能力花少一些时间掌握这个动作的。那时，我的老师告诉我“不要跳舞，就走路”。 The second was when I was an intermediate dancer. This time, I listened. I listened because the message was worth listening to. It happened when I was very frustrated learning a new movement. I was getting angry at myself, putting so much effort into doing something I felt I should be able to accomplish with much less. That’s when my teacher told me:“Don’t dance. Just walk.” 只是走路， 我可以的！我告诉我自己。所以，这节课的剩余时间我都只是在走路。转圈就是走路走一个圈，在地板上前行就是直直地往前走。复杂的事突然变得简单了。我们有一个趋势，在将舞蹈变得复杂化。其实舞蹈中的所有动作都是人的一个自然动作，所有的舞蹈动作需要的是放松，力量和自信，而紧张和僵硬削弱了我们想要表达的东西。 Just walk. I can walk, I said to myself. So, for the rest of the class, I walked. Turns were walking in a circle. Moving across the floor was walking forward. The complicated suddenly became the uncomplicated.We have a tendency in dance to complicate the simple. At its foundation, the movements we use in dance are intrinsically natural. They require relaxation, strength and confidence, whereas tension and rigidity undermine what we are trying to express. 舞者要学一项新技能，最难的是找到放松的点。是的，在学习新动作的时候，总有一个阶段觉得这个动作做起来不自然，很奇怪。这时思考一下你在日常生活中是如何自然地做这个动作的，能减少奇怪不自然的感觉，让你更快掌握这个动作。 For dancers learning a new skill, the hardest thing is finding that place of relaxation. And yes, there is always a period in which learning something new will lead to unnatural, awkward movements. But, thinking about what is natural about the movement can help to reduce that period of awkwardness. 作为新舞者，要把注意力从“舞蹈”中脱离出来，把脚步变成走路，把身体的架子变成改版的拥抱，让两人同步像呼吸一样简单。作为有经验的舞者，遇到新的和复杂的动作，把它想成重复的简单动作，或者干脆不要把它当成舞蹈动作。 With new dancers, it’s getting the mind off of ‘dancing’. Steps become walking, frame becomes a modified version of a hug, and getting in sync can be as simple as breathing with each other. With experienced dancers, it’s finding where new, complicated movements overlap simpler ones – or even non-dancing activities. 有时候当我们苦苦追求某些事物时，退一步，你会发现整个世界都不同了。如果一味地执着，不利于我们找到一个新的，更简单的办法去达到我们的目标。 Sometimes, taking a step away from how you are approaching something can make a world of difference. If we are too stubborn, we can blind ourselves to a new, easier way of accomplishing our goal. 我的两个故事都有一个共同的元素：决心！我做事总是很有决心。有的时候它会帮助我做成一些事情，这个时候我们称之为韧性。有的时候它会让我陷入困境，阻碍我的进程，这个时候我们称之为固执。 Both my stories have a common element: determination. I’ve always been ‘determined’. Sometimes, it helps me. It can make me push through things. During these times, it’s called tenacity. Sometimes, it bogs me down and hampers my process as I get caught up in frustration and a mind-rut. During these times, it’s called stubbornness. 跳舞时，我们需要拥抱韧性而摒弃固执。我们要相信别人，同时也要相信自己可以克服任何困难。如果韧性两字对你来说很简单，可能固执会牵绊你；如果你发现你很容易受影响，说明你的观念更开放，但是困难可能会打败你。 In dance, we need to embrace our tenacity but discard our stubbornness. We have to trust people, but we also have to trust ourselves and push through difficult situations. If tenacity comes easy for you, probably stubbornness will hinder you. If you find yourself easily influenced, you’ll probably be open to more guidance, but roadblocks may hit you harder. 了解你自己—你的缺点和优点。不管是在跳舞中还是在生活中，让你的眼睛始终盯着你的目标，但是让你的耳朵处在一个开放的状态。 Know yourself – both weaknesses and strengths. You can do it. Whether its in dance or in life, keep your eyes on your goal – but your ears open to an easier path. -----原文来自于dZouk Blog 公众号ID：FiestaLatino
