Duende!!!

So, today I had modern class and some recurring themes came up that I thought I share with you!! The concept that we have been talking about throughout the semester is that of duende. According to dictionary.com, duende is "the ability to attract others through personal magnetism and charm," but it's SO much more than that.

Duende is a way of life. It's what they call it when you are so passionate about something that it just explodes into every other area of your life. It is so important that you have some area in your life that you feel this way about. Otherwise, you will have nothing else to drive you and keep you moving when life seems hard.

For me and all the other dancers that I know, dance is the activity where I find and pour all of my duende into. It even comes to a point where I feel like if I don't put any of my personality into the steps, then I am not really dancing at all. Sometimes in a class the teacher throws out extremely hard steps that are so fast that they seem insurmountable. However, I have found that as long as you throw a little duende into the movement, it immediately become easier.

A dancer without duende is like a car without an engine- it won't work. Sure, technique is important, but it's not the most important thing. If the dancer does not show any sort of passion while dancing it makes it really boring for anyone who is watching. The people who get the jobs are the ones who convince the judges through their passion that they need to dance. They put so much emotion into it that the audience will think that if they didn't have the ability to do the movement, then they might just die.

So, even if you are not a dancer, you should still be using duende in some area of your life. If you do not have something that you are so passionate about that helps you get away from the world, then you need to look into some new activites. We are all human, and sometimes the best way to get through our struggles is to use a little duende and get away from the world for awhile.