Alicia Alonso performing as Giselle. Photo courtesy of National Ballet of Cuba.

We can joke about being able to do something with our eyes closed, but that’s exactly what Alicia Alonso learnt to do, what she had to do to succeed.

Diagnosed with a detached retina at the age of 19 – which was just the beginning of her vision problems that were to worsen throughout her life – she was ordered to lay completely still, resting on her back for many months to recover from eye surgery.

She was quoted as saying: “I danced in my mind. Blinded, motionless, flat on my back, I taught myself to dance Giselle.”

Giselle was to become her most famous role.

Here are some insights into the life of this remarkable living legend and the lessons we can take from her story.

Identify with your goal, not your obstacles

Despite being partially and permanently blind with no peripheral vision, this Cuban-born prima ballerina was known for technical ability advanced for her time, for intense emotional artistry and for her simply staggering longevity.

She danced her final performance in 1995 in a piece she choreographed called “The Butterfly”.
She was 75 at the time.

It would seem that she never allowed her disability to define her, in fact, she hardly spoke on the topic, and her audiences never suspected her blindness for a moment.

Find strategies to your setbacks

Ms Alonso developed techniques and strategies to allow for a seamless performance:

• Her partners always had to be exactly where she expected them to be at all times;
• Bright lights were strategically placed so that she could recognise the white glow of centre stage as well as her proximity to the orchestra pit;
• And in addition, a thin wire was occasionally stretched across the edge of the stage as a final precaution.

In this video, a clip from a documentary on the greatest Giselle performers in history, see if you can spot how she deliberately slowed certain moves and took a moment longer to orient and prepare herself…

Alicia Alonso’s story reminds me of a talk I recently attended by Dr John Demartini – author, human behavioural specialist and shiny can-opener to human minds – where he spoke about the common traits and success principles of the world’s highest achievers.

Nothing more important in life than knowing and doing what you love most

The first foundational trait common to every inspired high achiever, as shared by Dr Demartini, is that they know precisely what they are here to do – they have identified their highest value, the thing that is most important to them, thereby giving them their inspired purpose in life.

No-one could doubt that Ms Alonso had ‘dance’ at the very top of her priorities when, after her devastating realisation that her eyesight hadn’t improved after multiple surgeries and long dark months of recovery, she got back up on pointe and danced straight into the hearts and memories of audiences around the world.

Who could’ve guessed she had the slightest disability when she could perform multiple pirouettes and fierce fouettés like these…

She once said “Dance to me is life itself”, but more than mere words, her whole life demonstrates her inspired and determined belief and she has made history as a result.

“When the voice and the vision on the inside become more profound and clear and loud than the opinions on the outside, you’ve mastered your life.” – Dr John Demartini

It’s not always easy, but it’s not hard either when you’re living your dream

Another trait of highly successful top achievers is that those with an inspired vision will endure both pleasure and pain equally to achieve it. “Everything is on the way, not in the way”, says Demartini.

Watch this short video clip of Ms Alonso remembering her first performance of Giselle and see if you can spot this balance of pleasure and pain at play…

Never lose sight of your inner vision

Even though her impaired physical vision meant that Ms Alonso would complete her pirouettes and posé towards a pas de deux partner she couldn’t see, her strength of will and focussed determination trumped any fear of missing the mark. To anyone else, that would require tremendous courage, but I have a feeling that if asked, she would simply wave it off as a minor nothing.

Madame Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta and founding director of the National Ballet of Cuba.

In fact, the only vision deficiency Madame Alonso seems to allow is that she simply doesn’t see her obstacles. Nothing is in her way, everything is on the way to her own success.

When old age threatened her dance career, she simply took no notice. In an interview for the New York Times she said:

“If a person keeps thinking, ‘How old am I going to be?’ and thinking about the age, that’s the worst thing you can do. You don’t have to think about how old you are. You have to think about how many things you want to do and how to do it and keep on doing it.”

Never allowing the voices on the outside to become louder than her own, at the age of 91, she is still actively involved today as the director of the National Ballet of Cuba, the ballet company she started back in 1948.

Thanks to her, ballet has become a proud art form in Cuba, continuing to create future generations of inspired virtuoso dancers, with Alicia Alonso now becoming that very same guiding light that she once depended on to find her way across the stage.

International Ballet Gala in Johannesburg pays homage to Alicia Alonso

Six of Madame Alonso’s principal dancers from the National Ballet of Cuba will be joined by leading dancers from other major ballet companies in Johannesburg on 28, 29 and 30 June 2013 for five ballet galas in honour of this legendary lady.

The International Ballet Gala is being presented by South African ballet entrepreneur Dirk Badenhorst, an admirer of Madame Alonso ever since he began his close association with Cuban ballet in 2008.

“Through her strength as well as her stature as a Cuban national treasure,” says Dirk Badenhorst, “Alicia Alonso set an example for the world on the way in which ballet can be part of nation building, embracing an entire national population and cutting across all racial, social and economic divisions.”

The ballet galas are taking place at the Teatro at Montecasino and more information and booking details can be found here.

And finally, if you are still in any doubt of the inspired legacy Madame Alonso is creating, just watch her National Ballet of Cuba in this jaw-dropping compilation from their production of Don Quixote in Paris.

Photo by Daniela Vladimirova via Flickr

Are you injury-prone, struggling with your flexibility, weight or your health? What if it turned out that you have some hidden agendas and unconscious motives relating to your physical body?

“No way” you say?

Well, you may just change your mind, quite literally, after hearing this evening talk on 30 May 2013 where Dr John Demartini delves into the mechanics of the mind and its connection to fitness, health, wellbeing and the reasons behind the things we do or don’t do to achieve our health and wellness goals. (See the video introduction below.)

Dr Demartini is a renowned human behavioural specialist, a revered chiropractor and an international authority on the mind body connection with a background of over 40 years in-depth study covering over 260 ‘ologies’ with a primary focus on health, disease, healing and wellbeing.

How to “walk your talk, not limp your life”

He says we have incredible capacity to create profound transformations in our psychology and physiology through the power of our perceptions. When we take command of how we perceive things we change the labels and our misperceptions about our own health and wellbeing.

This presentation at the Sandton Convention Centre will address the unlimited healing power of a balanced mind and is said to include ground breaking information on conquering various forms of addiction.

Event details:

Public talk: Mind over body by Dr John Demartini
Date: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Times: Registration at 19:00 and talk from 19:30 to 21:45 (including Q&A).
Venue: Committee Room 4, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
Tickets: R280 through Computicket or R300 at the door.

Still not sure? Watch this quick (1 minute 40 second) video summary of what to expect at Dr Demartini’s talk:

Dr John Demartini, a human behavioural specialist and best-selling author.

Mikhail Baryshnikov once said “No one is born a dancer. You have to want it more than anything”.

Similarly, no one is born with success. Even with a natural born talent, success can never be guaranteed based on your past, but rather as a result of how you think and what you do each day forward. Far beyond talent, a successful mindset and the right action is what’s required.

And there are few people in the world that could give you better insights into this required mindset of the world’s top high achievers than Dr John Demartini, who is giving a talk in Johannesburg on 29 May on the 11 key success principles of high achievers.

Taking a leap ahead

Dr Demartini has spent the past 40 years studying over 29 000 books, teaching over 1 million people and coaching global leaders, A-list celebrities, top athletes, Wall Street financiers, and business influencers.

Through his lifelong study, he’s discovered there are 11 key principles that the world’s top high achievers all share in common. He’s going to share these 11 key habits during this one-time-only event at the Sandton Convention Centre.

If big success is a result of little thoughts and actions accumulated each day, and if like Mikhail Baryshnikov you want to be successful more than anything, then you’d be wise to learn from other high achievers on how to tune and leverage those daily actions to reach your goal.

So what would you do if you knew these 11 success principles and could apply them daily? What more could you achieve? How much further could you fly?

Event details:

Public talk: 11 Key success principles of the world’s top high achievers
Date: Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Times: Registration at 19:00 and talk from 19:30 to 21:15 (incl. Q&A)
Venue: Bill Gallagher room, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
Tickets: R180 from Computicket or R200 at the door.

Go on, you ain’t gonna live forever…

Following their recent South African concert tour, this Bon Jovi song comes to mind – “It’s now or never. I ain’t gonna live forever…It’s my life”. Oh go on, turn up the volume and rock your life!