Hip Hop Identity Crisis: The Spotlight Effect

Why does fame change us so much? Deep down inside, we crave validation. Since dancing is often not a skill that's highly valued by others, it can be easy to want your dancing to be recognized, talked about, blogged and twittered about by an appreciative audience. All dancers struggle with whether we dance for personal reasons or for the applause of a crowd. For some, both are valid reasons enough. Does that change the purity of our reasons for dancing? Being in the spotlight has its advantages and disadvantages.

We're familiar with the old story of someone "selling out" when they become famous. Someone blows up and you no longer know who they are. Maybe they don't either. Somewhere along the way, their reasons for dancing get twisted, compromised, and you can see it in the way they move. But this isn't a reflection of whether they are a good dancer or not. A person will negatively be affected by fame because there was something about their character that allowed for it to happen. Someone who has low self-esteem can suddenly feel validated, even superior to others, when they step into the spotlight. They think it fulfills an emptiness lingering inside of them. But it's a mirage.

Does it matter if you are a dancer who loves your artform but has never appeared in videos on Youtube? Professional dancers used to lug VHS tapes and DVDs of their reels to get hired for gigs. Now, all you need is a Youtube link. Youtube essentially killed the DVD reel. However, one advantage to online video is that for the media-saavy dancer, you can use it to promote yourself and to build a fan following. This is especially true for Youtube where fans can find you by searching for your name in tags.

For those who step into the spotlight, the positive result can be that they have a window of time to influence a generation of aspiring dancers. They've been given the mic to speak, teach, and educate a worldwide audience who is uninformed but willing to listen. That's what fame can do - it can open up opportunities to elevate a culture and to inspire the future generation. As long as a person's heart is in the right place, their words can hold great weight and power when there are millions of eyes focusing on them.