In our weekly Seasunsalsa podcasts we journey to discover the world of a social dance by inviting international guests with whom we discuss inspiring topics and talk about unseen elements of dance, art and life.
In this weeks topic we set out to discuss contradictions created when the passion and hobby is made into the business. There is a much used saying that goes something like this: "do what you love and you will never work a day in your life".
A very romantic idea but one that carries with it an unseen elements often overlooked by ones who set on a path to upgrade their art/hobby/passion into a full time profession.
As it turns out once you set yourself on a path to get professional with your hobby with all the good things you get there are struggles to overcome - both internal and external. One good example is - you will need to monetise your work somehow. Also, you will find out that beside doing only what you love (your hobby) you will need to do things you might not love so much.
In general the decision making you will need to do will be more complicated and you will need to transform yourself into something different. Often that comes together with overcoming struggles along the way which is not necessary a bad thing but is not going to be a road without "work" as the above saying states. Is gonna be a LOT of work and a lot of work which does not have anything to do with your hobby.
So, dancer or not, you might have a certain hobby and if you have thought about going professional with your passion this is the episode you might want to hear and take something out of it. And there is a one person from our social dance world that I wanted to specifically speak to about this subject since he wasn't a born dancer and he did not came from dancing background. Like most of us he encountered social dance by chance and was mesmerised with it.
Dance baceme his passion, his hobby and then something more. He is now professional living from dance and I put this topic in front of him, I squeezed and pressed all the buttons to get to the bottom of this subject and get his story as an example what can you expect when upgrading hobby to business. A talented person for both dance and business - one and only TALAL BENLAHSEN.
Link to the podcast and videos coming very soon. If you want to check the whole video without waiting on edited version feel free to go to CROATIAN SUMMER SALSA FESTIVAL Facebook page.
Hope this article and videos brought you some value. Feel free to contact us and write us if you want us to cover some other interesting topics from our social dance universe.
Vladimir Semenčić