It Doesn’t Cost That Much

Photo by Krys Alex on Unsplash

I blame movies. Movies give this idea that ballets and operas are more expensive than they are. Of course there will be some that are, especially “good” seats.

I was also under this impression, that I would have to spend lots of money in order for me to enjoy this kind of entertainment. I love classical and theatrical music and have done since I was very little.

It was Facebook, actually, that suggested the Marlowe to me and in particular made me more aware of a ballet that would be coming up on the first weekend of November. ‘The Three Musketeers’ by the Northern Ballet. I decided this time I would pay to see a ballet whatever the cost since it was so close to me. And well, seats started from less then £15. I was amazed and excited. I managed to get two second row seats for just £51.25. The delicate and captivating performance was worth more than the money I paid. I had taken my little sister with me and her mouth was ajar with amazement and wonder throughout the entirety of the performance.

I did buy a programme with all the dancers’ profile images and information in. I was equally awakened to the amount of time it takes for ballet dancers to become accomplished enough to perform in these shows. I considered the amount of time taken to train, practice and master their talents and skills. I definitely would not be able to make it through a one mile jog let alone an entire performance, lifting and leaping and standing straight up on points. My sister commented “I can see how defined their muscles are while they’re on their points,” and “And in his arms while holding her up?”. It’s obvious that they put an astounding amount of time and effort into their talents and skills. But at what cost? Ballet dancers are examples of having a lot of endurance and patience.

According to research, ballet is suffering a decline of ballerinas/dancers. The Telegraph blame TV talent shows for “putting children off ballet” and go on to quote an arts chief saying “they are no longer willing to spend time perfecting the discipline.” And, on further reading “Youngsters now believe that they can become an “overnight sensation” by appearing on a prime time entertainment show¹,” said the examination director at the Royal Academy of Dance. It would be fair to assume that there is a growing lack of endurance and patience.

What is impatience/patience?

Impatience is defined by the dictionary as “not accepting delay,” “restless in desire or expectation”². Patience is defined as “quietly and steadily persevering or [diligence]” and “having or showing the capacity for endurance”³. One Ph.D professor uses an adaptive syndrome approach to understand impatience. He breaks it down into three linked types, Conditions, Trigger, Motivated Actions and sums up the definition of impatience as:

“ Impatience as an Adaptive Syndrome: We suffer impatience when 1) we have a goal, 2) we have accepted certain costs (including opportunity costs) for reaching the goal, 3) we learn that it’s going to cost us more than we thought to reach the goal, and 4) we start looking for ways to avoid having to pay those extra costs.”⁴

With so many forums that we have access to, to pursue that “overnight sensation” including YouTube and Facebook, it can be discouraging when there is no instant outcome. With regards to having patience “eight out of ten [Brits] say they have given up doing something or buying something because they haven’t got the patience to wait for it.”⁵ Interestingly Theodore Roosevelt said “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.”⁶ But why is that? Why should we sacrifice our time, effort and energy on something that is hard?

Doing Hard things

I have the upmost respect for ballet dancers. Passion is one reason why we do hard things⁷, it must be at least. They train for more than a decade before they actually join a dance company with ballet classes starting at the age of 4, though the training and practice isn’t as intense as it is for most 16 year olds. Ballet dancers push their bodies to incredible limits, some retiring as young as 3⁵⁸. It’s no wonder it’s said that “ballerinas are some of the most intense athletes out there.”⁹ They do show a wonderful example that humans are capable of doing hard things. Take Stephen Hawking for example, he suffered with Motor-Neurone Disease for 55 years and is “ one of the most recognised names in modern science, [a] theoretical physicist, and cosmologist”¹⁰. Fortunately I don’t suffer with such difficulties, but I’ve had hardships and have learnt a lot from these faithful dancers.

Conclusion

What does patience have to do with this? Patience is a state of mind, it’s a weighing of pros and cons. Constant analysing of “is this worth it?”. I ask the same question every time I go to write my novel, or do any writing or anything that takes time. “What’s the point? What am I going to get out of this?” The answer is in the beginning. The thrill of seeing a beautiful interpretation of The Three Musketeers. We dance to be seen, we speak or sing to be heard and we write to read. Hard things when challenged and overcome, can amount to the most incredible awestruck performances. What did it cost? Everything. What did you get? A voice.

References

1. Turner, Camilla. 8th April 2018. “Ballet losing out as children prefer ‘overnight fame’ of TV talent shows.” The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/08/ballet-losing-children-prefer-overnight-fame-tv-talent-shows/
2. Dictionary. Accessed 12th November 2018. “impatience.” Dictionary. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/impatience
3. Dictionary. Accessed 12th November 2018. “patience.” Dictionary. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/patient?s=t
4. Stone Ph.D, Jim. 04th November 2014. “Understanding Impatience.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/clear-organized-and-motivated/201411/understanding-impatience
5. Grayling. 18th July 2011. “Women are more patient than men, but both only last an average two-and-a-half minutes.” Response Source. https://pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/66034/women-are-more-patient-than-men-but-both-only-last/
6. Roosevelt, Theodore. Sourced on 12th November 2018 by internet. “Theodore Roosevelt>Quotes>Quotable Quote.” Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/312751-nothing-in-the-world-is-worth-having-or-worth-doing
7. Rigby, Jennifer. 25th January 2012. “How hard is the life of a professional ballet dancer?” 4 News. https://www.channel4.com/news/how-hard-is-the-life-of-a-professional-ballet-dancer
8. Hansen, Melody Datz. 28 May 2014. “Bowing Out: When and Why Ballet Dancers Retire.” The Stranger. https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/bowing-out-when-and-why-ballet-dancers-retire/Content?oid=19671239
9. Engel, Joshua and Melissa Stroud. 24th June 2014. “How Physically Intense Is Ballet?” Slate. https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/06/how-difficult-is-dancing-ballet.html
10. Baker, Maverick. 14th March 2018. “Stephen Hawking: Life of a Modern Day Genius.” Interesting Engineering. https://interestingengineering.com/stephen-hawking-life-modern-day-genius