Sometimes, you should listen to those who have expertise and experience in your field, people who are practiced in it and educated in it, when you have choices to make.
Sometimes you shouldn’t listen to advice.
There’s no easy way to go about it.
There are dancers that I believe would have achieved certain goals of theirs had they heeded my advice and guidance.
There’s the teacher who didn’t seem to think much of me, who thought that I should have taken the first job I was offered because it was the only job I’d likely ever get.
Now, I didn’t turn it down because I thought I was above it. I turned it down because I wasn’t mature enough to leave home and tour for a year. As it happened, I was offered one of the top jobs any dancer could get less than a year later.
I digress. As artists and as humans, we do need mentors and colleagues to dispense feedback and wisdom, but we need to choose who we let in judiciously.
Not listening to anyone is bad. Listening to everyone will get you nowhere.
