I’m currently reading “The Last Lecture,” the story of a Carnegie Mellon professor who in his last months of life decides to spread a message about truly living. While reading, I came across this paragraph:

“That lesson has stuck with me my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.”

As soon as I read this I immediately thought about ballet. There is no way I could be the dancer I am today if it were not for criticism in class. Our ballet teachers do not correct us just because they want to bring us down, but because they know what we are capable of and want us to reach our highest potential. If they didn’t think we could improve anymore, or worse, if they didn’t care whether or not we improved anymore, they wouldn’t bother trying to help. It is definitely a hard thing to learn, and there are days when I have to remind myself over and over that the seemingly endless list of corrections is a positive thing, but it is extremely important to understand in order to not be constantly discouraged. However harsh it comes across, it is all out of love.

- Emma Yasick, Brandywine Ballet dancer & blogger