A Diverse Performer

What makes a diverse performer?

Generally speaking, a diverse performer is more likely to be presented with great opportunities and therefore have more success. Being a diverse performer doesn't mean being able to do all dance styles and routines flawlessly, its having the range of skills that allows you to try anything and do it, regardless of how well.

Referring back to 'The Role of a Dancer', a diverse dancer needs to be adaptable, both physically and mentally. Having great physical skills and emotive skills make great, diverse performances but the mental challenges that come alongside dance and having the resilience and aspiration to overcome them, makes a good, diverse performer. All of a dancer's skills need to come together for them to be able to take part in workshops, lead by choreographers with different styles, even if the style seems unnatural to them. An example would be Rose Ayling-Ellis, a non-dancer who with the help from proffesional Giovanni Pernice became the winner of Stictly Come Dancing 2021.

Rose, despite her complete lack of experience in ballroom/latin dancing and her being completely deaf, was forced to transform into a diverse dancer in order to progress through the competition.

Her mental skills were strong because of the support from the deaf community that gave her confidence and motivation. Her physical skills rapidly improved because of her commitment which meant training for many hours, everyday, for 14 weeks. On Strictly Come Dancing there are 17 styles of dance performed by the couples. Many dancers on the show are better at one of either ballroom or latin and so its their lack of variety in their skill set is what gets them voted out of the competition, Rose Ayling-Ellis however was a diverse and determined performer who consistently scored high in all of her dances. Where many contestants have found certain dances un-natural and failed to replicate the style, Rose found the movement un-natural and put 10X the amount of effort in until she could do it.

An example of a professional dancer who showed much diversity in their career was Koen Onzia, a dancer from Belgium who took part in the competition Prix de Lausanne and played the victim in Christopher Bruce's Swansong. Though he was trained in the style of ballet, he flawlessly performed Swansong which consists of a variety of styles including ballet, contemporary, tap, ballroom and jazz. This goes to show the diversity of his talent. Much like Rose Ayling-Ellis he succeeded in using his existing skills and rehearsal time to adapt to and develop new dance styles.

Both dancers had a very different dance experience, both had lessons when they were younger however Rose favoured acting as a career path. Rose's experience that made it clear she was a diverse performer was only 14 weeks long however Koen's was a lifetime of experiences. This makes it evident that the motivation, resilience and commitment that it takes to become a diverse performer has no time limit.