So I’m taking a 19th Century Music Research Seminar this semester. So clearly France had some crazy cracked out times in the 19th century. The opera house in France went through some pretty big changes. The people loved art. They wanted it all. It was not uncommon to see ballet along with the opera. Well there were these three famous Parisian ballet dancers that worked along with the main opera house (my dancer friends will have to forgive me for I have forgotten their names already.
Well the first of the three ladies was the very first dancer to dance on pointe for the entire show. She was a virtuoso. No one before her had been able to do it. Throughout her career her father maintained her finances (that’s just what people did then). When her father died she found that he had squandered all of her money and she was penniless. She was never able to retire. She danced until she no longer could, and then taught all the way until she died around 80 years old. In her lifetime she revolutionized dance. Because of her, dance was changed forever.
The second famous dancer was not as talented as the first. She was loved because she was beautiful, sexy… She danced until she was 30. At the age of 30 she had made enough money that she moved to America and was able to support herself on the money she made in her dance career.
The third dancer was just as good as the first. A virtuoso. A very successful performer, she was loved by many. She had a good career and retired after having the illegitimate child of a European prince and moved out of France. She was then supported by that prince for the rest of her life. She had a great career as a dancer and never had to worry about money.
Here is the question I pose to you:
Which of these three dancers had the most successful life?
The one that worked her entire life to get by, but because of her teaching changed the future of dance? Would dance have been changed so if she had been able to retire at the age of 30 and never taught lessons to so many dancers?
The second one who was loved by Paris and was able to support her self for the rest of her life?
The third, who was the picture of virtuosity and was taken care of the rest of her life after retirement? She had it all: a great career, children, and a generous fund to support her.
If you know me, you know who I thought had the most successful life.
What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
I want to be a revolutionary. I want to change peoples’ lives. I hope that one-day people will remember me as someone who made a difference…as someone who sparked excitement and motivated change. I want to be remembered as an encourager.
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