commencement

[tdjohnsn]

So, the old senior are gone, they graduated today with as full a pomp and circumstance as you can manage in a rented high school auditorium and no budget. After last years poor showing, and realizing that the school was never going to make a bigger effort, the faculty made a commitment to not only showing up, but to wearing capes and gowns. There were seven of us (almost the entire studio staff) and all but two had our caps and gowns (the two who didn't had tried to order but started too late...all the rental/purchase places want 6 weeks or more.) We still have a ways to go, but it is getting closer to a feeling like an official ceremony. My hood and tassel didn't show up, but neither did a couple of other peoples, so that was okay. Next year we will tweak things some more to keep pushing things in the direction of "solemn official occasion."

The President of the College was out of town. (commentary on that deleted...)

Anyway, I spoke at graduation again this year. I had a lot of trouble coming up with something to say. As individuals, I liked a lot of the seniors. As a class they were really difficult, making talking about them a challenge.

In 1984 Jayne Torvil and Christopher Dean collected the first perfect scores of 6.0 in the history of Ice Dancing.

Ice dancing, which was first included in the Olympics in 1976, is based on limitations. There are no spins, no jumps. Lifts are limited. But when Torvill and Dean skated, they created the illusion that there were no limitations.

Prior to that piece, tradition in ice dancing had dictated that skaters should put together perhaps as many as four pieces of music to demonstrate their versatility on the ice in different dance styles. In January of 1984, Torvill and Dean introduced their new long program, set to Ravel's "Bolero." The piece used only one rhythm when they were allowed four, a practice blindly followed until then.

They got three 6.0s for technical merit and eight for artistic impression.

When you watch a film clip of Torvil and Dean skating, their elegant execution makes ice dancing look easy.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There are often limitations in the arts; limitations of size, of color, of medium, of space. The reactions to these limitations vary. There are always the people who say, “oh, well, I can’t create with those boundaries” and either refuse to compete at all, or not follow instructions. There are people who always turn to pat answers to make the job easy. Popular culture is full of visuals and styles ready to be copied and repurposed. And they can seem to be being repurposed brilliantly…until someone like Torvil and Dean come along and expose that work as empty and derivative.

Doing what has already been done, or what is expected does not earn anyone 6.0s, in ice dancing, in art, or in life.

Creating the illusion that there are no limitations is the opposite of easy. It requires listening, hard work, humility, and an openness to the subject matter you are working with that is hard to achieve. It also takes a belief that you can be more than you think you can, and have more to offer than you believe.

Creating the illusion that there are no limitations requires a lifetime of effort. You often hear people say, “Think outside the box.” But no matter how you reinvent the box, it is always there. Better to say, “Never see the box as a limitation.” The world of possibilities exists within every box you are lucky enough to be faced with.

And the box you are faced with today is your future.

Thank you.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[allanh.livejournal.com]

That ... was beautiful and inspired. Both the speech and the video clip.

And knowing how much tsuris your students gave you this year, it was probably waaaaaaaay better of a speech than they deserved.

Thanks for posting this!

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Thanks Allan!

[tbass.livejournal.com]

Wow.. you obviously liked us a lot better :)

And.. Craig wasn't there for ours either. None of us were surprised.

A funny story about Craig.

I was hanging my senior show stuff and I was having trouble because I kept hitting studs with my t-pins and they'd bend and stuff.. so I was walking around looking for Marshall to see if he'd help me.. and Craig walks up to me and goes, "Can I help you? Are you looking for someone?" and I was like, "Yeah.. Marshall." and he was like, "Nobody by that name works here." and then I said, "No.. he's a student." and then he gave me some crap about how random people/friends of students aren't supposed to be on campus wondering around, and then I go, "Wait.. what? I'm a student here. I've gone here almost 3 years and I graduate in a few months." and then he looked really embarrassed and just said, "Oh.. sorry." and walked away.

So.. yeah. I'm not surprised he doesn't show up for the graduations. Why would he? It's not like he actually knows any of the people graduating.

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Yeesh. It is like he only cares about the students that have not started yet.

Last year he had a really good reason for not being there...his father had died. This year seems kind of lame.