How To Upgrade Meta-Skills? Go To a Dance Show

The good news is that you can improve your meta-skills not only at expensive training but also … by visiting a theater or ballet.

Awareness and ability to be in the moment.

The theater opens up other facets of reality perception for the viewer. Fantastic, irrationality, uniqueness, and dissimilarity of theatrical performance to everyday life helps to more clearly perceive what is happening in real life.

We live at very high speeds, are constantly surrounded by advertisements, and already have a hard time separating our own feelings and desires from those imposed from the outside. In the theater, we can finally be here and now. One-on-one with topics that we are concerned about, we rarely pay attention to, and with our own attitude towards them.

Empathy and communication skills.

A person is guided by the herd instinct, therefore, exchanging information with others is one of his most important needs. Dance was one of the main means of communication even before the emergence of language and writing, so careful observation of how dancers move on stage can not only bring pleasure but teach them to pay attention and respond to the body language of others in a quality and timely manner.

People like the “magic” of dance performances: it is as if you were not told anything, but you understood everything. Thanks to mirror neurons, we read simple postures and movements, interpret them using our own body — and this is always the correct “translation”. The “language” chosen by a choreographer or director can have its own poetics and respond in a special way in the bodies of the audience.

Chained in words, feelings and meanings are often shallow. And the dance does not need words.

Authenticity and sincerity.

Dance is always about authenticity: falling, rising, contact with a partner, fatigue, joy. Each of the performers fills the work with his own individuality, and powerful performance, first of all, about their totality.

You look at the dance live and close enough, you react at the level of the body and instincts, returning to your nature. At the play, you can learn a lot about yourself, be surprised at your own feelings, understand and appreciate the dissimilarity of people from each other, see familiar situations from other sides. It is worth recording and memorizing these sensations dictated by the subconscious.

Tolerance.

Modern dance removes taboos from the body and corporeality, does not establish rigid rules, and allows you to choose your focus of contemplation. As the viewing experience increases, you become more tolerant of the creative manifestations of people, and then — of the people themselves. Immersion in the context of the work gives a more meaningful and critical understanding of the related arts, the historical, political, and socio-cultural field in which the artist exists and in which you exist.

Ability to learn quickly and constantly.

Neuropsychologists say that when a person watches a dance, parts of the brain that are responsible for understanding speech and for acting are activated in him. The dance exists only here and now, it cannot be repeated 100% in the same way, therefore each performance, even a refined one, is unique. This means that you can go to your favorite performances several times. Each performance brings new nuances to the piece, and you will always have something to read, react to, compare and learn from.

Contemporary dance requires attention, concentration, and a desire to start the thinking process. If everything coincides, and the viewer has no prejudices, the doors will open for him on an interesting journey that will help him to better feel the world, other people, and himself. And what is interesting — no words at all.