25 Life Lessons I Learned From Ballet - #20
Beyond the arabesques and grand jetés, ballet is an abundant source of priceless life lessons. With the rigorous training and intense discipline it requires, ballet can teach one how to deal with pressure, disappointments, challenges, and ultimately, success. On her 25th anniversary as a professional dancer in 2009, prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde took the time to list down 25 key lessons she learned from ballet and which she felt both dancers and non-dancers can apply in their own lives. This series shares those enduring nuggets of wisdom – one lesson at a time.
20. Accept the fact that nothing and nobody is perfect. As a ballerina, I have always strived for perfection of every movement I do onstage. But, not a single performance of my professional dancing career has been perfect. Perfection is a goal that can never be achieved – but we have to try. No, practice does not make perfect.
Thirty years after her performance at the Leningrad Choreographic Institute, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde danced her last Aurora in her 50th birthday concert, Gold. In a role that she has performed many times, she still found herself discovering new things about the character and the choreography that added more layers to her successful though still imperfect performance. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Top photo: Constant practice and hard work resulted in successful performances but not perfection. Understanding the difference between the two was a difficult lesson for prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde to learn especially during the early stages of her career. In this photo was an early attempt at portraying Aurora in Sleeping Beauty for a 1984 performance at the Leningrad Choreographic Institute. Photo from the Ballet Manila Archives
