10/07/13: Amnesty Post #2 - Chapter 5 ~ Leveraging

   This chapter talked about some of the juiciest things I was looking forward to in the book. The main theme of these few pages were about team and how to actually get people moving. I really enjoyed reading the part, "Leverage Everyone's Talents- and Deal with Performance Problems Constructively". To me, there is nothing more important than getting the most out of your team members and letting them do what they do best. I feel that leaders who are successful in this strategy produce results that are 20% more high quality than the originally calculated outcome.

   This passage reminded me of the methods I use, or shall I say, many choreographers use, in order to draw out the best from their dancers. For the Smooth Steppers performance this year, I am one of the three choreographers responsible for making the 17作品 (17 Sakuhin), which is a performance composed of only dancers from the first year. This means that a lot of the dancers are beginners who started dancing only a few months ago. On top of that, many September and OYR students join the team as well. We have a team 30 people, most of whom are not greatly experienced dancers. 

   Here is the problem: When other performances are going to be composed of dancers who have been training for as long as 3 years, what can we do in order to not look like complete S#$%? The other two choreographers and I really use our brains in order to figure out a way to let everyone stand out. We give certain people a good place to dance at in a certain formation or give certain people solos. We decide this based on each person's specialties and characteristics. Some people may have had dance experience outside street dancing. Some people may have charismatic character. Some people may have great facial expressions. This becomes the basis for formation making. This way, each person will be motivated to do their best in their highlighted parts. We feel that as choreographers, it is vital for every person to have the same amount of motivation. Leveraging the specialties of every person on the team may help leverage the overall motivation of the whole team :)