"NOBODY'S A NATURAL BORN DANCER"
THOUGHTS ON DANCING
Rusty Frank, October 23, 2007

People often say to me, "Rusty, dancing is easy for you! You're a natural born dancer." At this point, I have to do everything in my power to not:

1. Laugh out loud

2. Go into a mighty rage.

Why, you ask, would I have either of these reactions? The answer is easy. I was definitely NOT a natural born dancer.

If I was a natural born anything, it was a natural born klutz!

So when I hear "Rusty, dancing is easy for you! You're a natural born dancer," which is at least once a week from new students or dance hopefuls, I really want to burst out laughing at how absurd that comment is, especially for me.

The reason I have the second reaction, the one of impending rage, is that I want to blurt out, "How can you say that? Don't you have any idea of the amount of time, sweat, tears, joy, aggravation, elation, etc., that I have put into dancing just to manage to get where I am? By saying I'm a "natural born dancer" they are taking away all those hours, hours, hours, years, and years that I have put into dancing.

Of course, I will say that I am a natural born optimist, and that sure helped. Even as a little girl, I just attacked with gusto anything I wanted to do, even though I was rarely really good at anything when I started. I just had that "stick-to-it-ness". Thank goodness!

As you can see by my recital clip... I was definitely NOT a Natural Born Dancer, and it's a good thing I started dancing at 6 years old, because it was going to take a LONG, LONG time before I got good at it!

So, when people say, "Rusty, dancing is easy for you! You're a natural born dancer" I control myself and smile and say, "Naw. Nobody's a natural born dancer. We all have the same path to become a dancers and that's simply the time we put into it. Dancing is a journey, not a destination. So enjoy the journey... as you'll always be in it."

RUSTY'S DANCE RECITAL -- AGE 7
IF YOU NEEDED PROOF -- HERE IT IS!
I WAS DEFINITELY NOT A NATURAL BORN DANCER!