"The story of Gillian Lynne, the famous choreographer. When Ken Robinson’s TED Talk video went viral several years ago, it brought a voice to the way many (yet a minority) had felt and looked at creativity and education. I’m late to the party, and am only recently loving this man’s perspective. Ken shares the story of his friend Gillian Lynne, and I wanted to share it here with you today, mainly because of a question that stirred in my soul at the end of his story. Below is an exert from his 20 minute TED Talk speech.
I’m doing a new book at the moment called “Epiphany,” which is based on a series of interviews with people about how they discovered their talent. I’m fascinated by how people got to be there. It’s really prompted by a conversation I had with a wonderful woman who maybe most people have never heard of; she’s called Gillian Lynne – have you heard of her? Some have. She’s a choreographer and everybody knows her work. She did “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera.” She’s wonderful. I used to be on the board of the Royal Ballet in England, as you can see. Anyway, Gillian and I had lunch one day and I said, ”Gillian, how’d you get to be a dancer?” And she said it was interesting; when she was at school, she was really hopeless. And the school, in the ’30s, wrote to her parents and said, “We think Gillian has a learning disorder.” She couldn’t concentrate; she was fidgeting. I think now they’d say she had ADHD. Wouldn’t you? But this was the 1930s, and ADHD hadn’t been invented at this point. It wasn’t an available condition. People weren’t aware they could have that.
Anyway, she went to see this specialist. So, this oak-paneled room, and she was there with her mother,and she was led and sat on this chair at the end, and she sat on her hands for 20 minutes while this man talked to her mother about all the problems Gillian was having at school. And at the end of it –because she was disturbing people; her homework was always late; and so on, little kid of eight — in the end, the doctor went and sat next to Gillian and said, “Gillian, I’ve listened to all these things that your mother’s told me, and I need to speak to her privately.” He said, “Wait here. We’ll be back; we won’t be very long,” and they went and left her. But as they went out the room, he turned on the radiothat was sitting on his desk. And when they got out the room, he said to her mother, ”Just stand and watch her.” And the minute they left the room, she said, she was on her feet, moving to the music. And they watched for a few minutes and he turned to her mother and said, ”Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick; she’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.”
I said, “What happened?” She said, “She did. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was. We walked in this room and it was full of people like me. People who couldn’t sit still. People who had to move to think.” Who had to move to think. They did ballet; they did tap; they did jazz; they did modern; they did contemporary. She was eventually auditioned for the Royal Ballet School; she became a soloist; she had a wonderful career at the Royal Ballet. She eventually graduated from the Royal Ballet School and founded her own company — the Gillian Lynne Dance Company – met Andrew Lloyd Weber. She’s been responsible for some of the most successful musical theater productions in history; she’s given pleasure to millions; and she’s a multi-millionaire. Somebody else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down.
Gillian’s circumstances are obviously rare and unique, and her fame and success is not necessarily my point. What caused me to pause was her statement, “The room was full of people like me…People who had to move to think.” Immediately, I began looking for a pen to write down the question whispering in my ear,
“Amy, what do you need to do to be able to think?”
I think if we could honestly answer that question, we would take a giant leap in the direction of creating our art. Of living our call. Of finding freedom in our purpose."
I need people or music...maybe noise? I need the distraction of a voice(s)/music to allow my brain to unfocus and just listen to itself. For example, in college, I found I could do much better work for my writing class while in a lecture. The professor's voice and classmates around me were enough of a distraction for my conscience thoughts, that I was able to just write. I find music sometimes does the same thing for me - it does for most people I think - having music playing while painting a room, doing dishes, cleaning, working on a project, keeps things moving and productive! It's why I get home and turn on music or the tv. Not to actively sit a watch/listen, but just to fill the house with happy sounds.
The other place I love to think is in nature. One of the reasons Matt and I bought our house is that on the back deck, if you stop and listen you can hear the wind through the trees, the birds - it's peaceful. I also love the water - the ocean - the waves crashing against the rocks or up on the beach, the call of the birds, the wind through the grass, sand, dune grass.
Where do you think best?
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