My latest piece for +GetintheLoopca Marketing. Check it out on their blog, as well as other interesting content about tech, marketing and the #LoopLife!
Scene: We’re in a business meeting.
“I’m a social media strategist and professional dancer.” Eyebrows usually raise after I say this.
I’ve written before about dance and I breaking up due to an injury and crossing into another career full-time. Well, that changed, and now I’m working steadily as a company member, teacher and choreographer in Vancouver.
However, every once in awhile I get someone who says I should only be focusing on either communications/writing 100 per cent and drop dancing (or vice versa.)
Yeah right. In my mind, working and creating in the arts significantly helps my role at Get in the Loop.
In a recent article for Fast Company, one of the top CEO’s of a major tech company spoke about her first career as a ballerina, and praised how it helped her in the business world. Personally, I think she only touched the surface – I’ve expanded on a couple of her points and added my own:
TRAINING
Before a dancer can effortless turn a pirouette or balance on pointe, they spend hours training at the barre; repeating and perfecting each movement as well as the technique.
In real life, practicing your craft and analyzing your performance/results makes a difference. What you do in the studio or boardroom is a direct reflection of what will happen outside it.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Dance is a visual art. To learn choreography, you must show, not tell.
Teaching things step-by-step in a 3-dimensional environment gives students a well-rounded view of your work. Much like business, showing your customers and colleagues how to do something and the results is more helpful than handing them a piece of paper with numbers.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
The next time you watch dancers in a music video or live performance, look at their hands. Their fingers are placed and their wrists aren’t flopping around. A couple months ago in a coffee shop, a photographer took a shot of my hands and said he could tell I was a dancer from how I placed them.
This is because we place an extreme amount of attention on the details. It’s about adding that extra polish or finding an edge that will take a pitch, tweet or article from good to awesome.
TIME MANAGEMENT
I should also mention: time management. If you were late to ballet, you had to sit and watch the entire class as a punishment. Now, I’m 15 minutes early for my meetings. I might be seen as a keener, but I still remember the sting of not being able to dance while I watched my friends get to.
ENSEMBLE vs PRINCIPAL WORK
Like any other team, dancers work in what we call a “core” or ensemble for performances. You learn a lot about attitudes and personalities while learning complex choreography in a group. Unless something unacceptable is happening, you leave all your feelings at the door.
Like a business team, you’re making decisions based on the forward advancement of the company, not just the individual.
Principal work has personally been a challenge after spending most of my life in the core. Being pulled up as a soloist for a show is incredibly rewarding, but you have to prove yourself in every single rehearsal (trust me, there are 5 dancers behind you ready to take your spot).
This is the same as holding your ground on an issue you feel strongly about.
As the social media strategist on the team (and coming from a journalism background) there are moments when I know I’m going against the grain of the team. This hasn’t lead to conflict, but rather to collaboration and working together to meet a goal.
The best thing about being a dancer and working in the “real world” too?
Seeing them come together.
I love watching pedestrian body movements and integrating them into choreography. My friends who have come to shows say a story through live performance is much richer than just watching a movie.
So yes, I’m a social media strategist and a dancer. Any questions?
