Twyla Tharp

Elite is elite.

It has a price to pay.

It's different because the talent is being trained and challenged in a different way as young people.

In other words, they're now competitive dancers

activities for dance.

I started to say activity sports for dance.

It's not quite a sport, though it converged, which is fine.

But when I was evolving as a dancer, we had very strict borders.

This was tap, this was ballet, this was modern, this is jazz over here.

And you could step across the borders and try out different of these, even acquire knowledge from all of them to become something.

But you had to do it on your own.

And then you would work to gain acceptance into whatever performing arena.

Now children, very young children, eight years old, even younger, six-year-old kids, there are competitions for children as dancers or as performers.

And this engenders a totally different purpose and performance in the kid.

I was not, I'm Buster Keaton, right?

I take it on the chin, stoic, down, out, or I make the move, right?

The kids are out there to sell it, and they're out there to get their points.

And it is partially in their technique, but it's also immediately in their manipulation of the audience.

Great.

That's called performing, and maybe you'll be a good actor.