"No artistic talent is showered on us from above: but it comes from the root up, not through outer education, but through inner inspiration, not through knowledge but through Need. Therefore the teacher only brings out in you that which is already there, though still dormant. Your teacher shows you what you already know, but have forgotten: this unconscious knowledge which is inside of yourself must be brought to conscious, willful use, for it to fully profit you. But the source, the heart, the core of your skill is deep inside of yourself, and through hard work, patient repetition of the same exercises which might seem boring to you, you get closer to that source; and when you attain it, then it, the inspiration, the heart, the life takes the reins of your practice, and then can you defy practice.
"Who among you hasn't seen these glorious artists, dancers or other, who transcend the rules of the art, of the tradition they have learnt, to achieve more beauty, and draw nearer to the fount of inspiration within their own heart? Only those who have reached again that inner fount can achieve this, and they are the pioneers, the visionaries of any art form, who set new rules, create a new tradition. By them new schools are founded, new styles created, new movements set into motion! They are the reformers, the avant-garde, the achievers, through them revolutions are done and reforms are made! And all of this, because they have drawn nearer to that fount of inner wisdom which guides the true artist to excellence in their field.
"So free yourself from the dictates of tradition, first by obeying it: first by developing your technique, will you be freed from its limitations. Then can you become a pioneer, a reformer, a true artist!"
-The Living Dancer
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