This is going to the last post of this series. By the age of 25 I had reached a point in my life as a dancer where I had discovered my self, a community of artists and a somewhat stable career.
Financially I was good but my passion was not being fulfilled.
The commercial gigs i.e. ad films, music videos, stage shows didn't really do it for me.
I was also was seeing my peers whom I graduated college with moving up in life and achieving stability.
I wondered how long I could sustain myself with my current career. How long my body could take it. If I had to switch it was better to do it sooner rather than later when I as 30-35 years old.
The time when I realized what I could possibly do well in the corporate line of work was when I auditioned for a chain of hotels and restaurants.
I had always enjoyed the hotel environment as my Dad managed a few. Growing up my sis and I played in the gardens swam in the pools etc. So when I went for the audition I had a copy of my resume rolled up in my back pocket. Long story short, I got a contract to perform at the opening their new properties and a job as a banquet coordinator in the sales department.
I knew of breakers who had regular jobs and they would travel compete and practice regularly before I got this job. So I thought "why not try it?"
What I had envisioned didn't really play out though. Well to start with I joined the wrong industry and as a rookie you usually have to work harder to learn the ropes.
To make it worse my crew- Roc Fresh started competing and travelling a lot. They would compete in breakdance battles in other cities. If they won (which they did most times) the prize money would be used to travel for the next battle.
I barely participated at this stage, If I did it would be local events (in Mumbai) and the one out-of-town battle I travelled for with the crew, I ended up getting sick and missed the event. I Over-exerted myself in a practice session the day before!
However I hung out a lot with one one the younger bboys form our crew- Abdul. He lived close by and I had a motorbike in my second year of the job which made life a lot easier. Adbul's company and friendship is one of the things that kept me going. Also to see him grow was really great.
We'd hand out at my apartment, practice, eat street food and sometimes travel together on my bike to meet the rest of the crew who lived in New Mumbai about an hour and a half away from us.
There she is!
From 2011 till date I worked in sales in different companies and industries but breaking is always close to my heart.
I hope to teach my kids how to break. The older one already does a few moves and keeps me company sometimes when I practice at home.
That's me in the picture above on the roof of my office at Hotel Sun-N-Sand, my second job. I wasn't making much at the first one. I was a boutique hotel with 14 rooms. Sun-N-Sand which was a regional chain was at par with some of the international brands. I did mainly room sales and I learnt a lot more about sales in this job. Especially objection handling.
And that's me with my family 10 years later in Trinidad and Tobago where I currently live.
Final Words
I sometimes regret making that move into the corporate line but then I would have never developed my my business skills that I learnt over the years or met my wife.
As an artist there needs to be a good balance between creativity, income, family time and other aspects of life. I wrote about this in an article on how Hive can help artists thrive.
There are jobs that may complement your skills as an artist and also be a better fit. Both time wise and the people you work with. For example learning a skill like graphic design or animation can help you with your branding as an artist and can also fetch you work as a freelancer or in an ad agency.
That's all folks. If you haven't read the previous articles of how I got into dance and made a career out of it, the links are below.
Previous Posts
A Journey Into Hip Hop: Part 1-How I Got Into Dance- @islandboi/a-journey-into-hip-hop-part-1-how-i-got-into-dance
A Journey Into Hip Hop: Part 2- College, The Platform That Boosted My Dance Career @islandboi/a-journey-into-hip-hop-part-2-college-the-platform-that-boosted-my-dance-career-rcmdba
A Journey Into Hip Hop: Part 3- My Dance Career @islandboi/a-journey-into-hip-hop-part-3-my-dance-career
Video and Image Sources
- Title image- https://unsplash.com/
- All other images- taken by me
- Video- embedded from my YouTube channel
Delegate to the Mind Force Gathering @mind.force and support more than hundred artist on the hive blockchain.
| 10 HP | 20 HP | 30 HP | 100 HP | 250 HP | 500 HP | 1000 HP | 2000 HP | 5000 HP |
|---|
Wanna become a part of Hive? Click on the link below to start your journey.
Join PeakD- https://peakd.com/register?ref=islandboi