"I understand you: you believe in the Truth I said. You trust my words and you trust yourself, and you seek joy & spontaneity rather than the technical hack work you always thought would be your lot on the path to artistic attainment. But now that you follow that advice and heed my words, you feel lost and desperate; because you feel you are not moving forward, you no longer know whether you're improving, and even your joy of dancing has deserted you, the last remain of what made you a dancer in your eyes. For you feel joy, spontaneity and inspiration itself cannot lead you on a path clear and safe enough because you are not yet a disembodied spirit.
"That is where another secret can help you, which I will tell you presently: it will take you out of your despair, and still your anguish. Everything in Nature is a paradox; no truth appears to mortal eyes without unveiling also its opposite, because life on this Earth is but a shadow, a reflection of the great eternal Truth. Therefore you will not find something true, without finding that its opposite also is true. This in itself is not true, for Truth does exist: but as I told you, these paradoxes are reflections of the Truth, and they are the only ones we can presently perceive in our mortal condition.
"Now I will apply this truth to your endeavours as an artist, as a dancer, and you will understand. It is true that your joy and your spontaneity alone must guide you towards artistic attainment. But Nature is but a great paradox, and because of this, it is also true that technical work is the only way you can achieve that emancipation from technique! Never can we be freed from a law, by something other than itself; and therefore, from the shackles of technique will you also be freed in Dance, in any art, by having first mastered it. Therefore when you feel lost, when joy of dancing has deserted you, and you lament over the conviction that you are no longer an artist because you can no longer find genuine joy in your art form, remember this: and start working on your technique again. Let go of inspiration, of joy, of spontaneity, and never press or force them. Work on your barre, on strengthening your feet, on flexibility, on balance, on turning, relentlessly and without loosing heart, and focus only on the technical aspect, for technique will inspire you again. Then the scales will topple again, and the time will come again to let go of technique and seize the force of inspiration which will again stream forth in you.
"For this is the great secret: what is true for the spirit, is not real for the body, and what is real for the body, is not true for the spirit. But what is true for the spirit, and what is real for the body, must both be used for attainment, and thus do we move ever forward. Ultimately you seek only joy in your art; but temporarily technique is the one thing through which your body will be acquire the ability to express the dictates of the soul. Therefore you have to think only of joy & inspiration, but to work through technique. And by understanding this paradox you delve into the secret of Art itself."
- The Living Dancer
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