Michele Benoit, RNCP, ROHP, is a Nutrition Expert at Applied Nutrition Canada.
She will be speaking at danceScape’s new “Life Makeover” Seminar Series & Open House on Monday, January 10th and Thursday January 13th in downtown Burlington.
Hear her inspiring story about how she was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease and her passion to help others through Nutrition counseling and Nutrition Response Testing. RSVP by calling (905) 633-8808 or E-mail events@dancescape.com.
Read MoreMy participation in ParticipACTION’s Television Campaign earlier this year resulted in life changing opportunities to connect with other Creative Arts and Health & Wellness professionals who are as passionate as I am about championing health, fitness, and wellness to Canadians.
With the final days of 2010 looming, this is the best time to reflect on all of our Life paths.
My own involve those flashes of childhood memories in Malaysia, the country that my parents left to find new opportunities for my sister and I; to growing up as a child of immigrant parents and brother-protector of my younger sister in Mississauga, Burlington, and Hamilton; to taking time off after undergraduate school and working at “Woolco”; then with steely determination, being admitted into the Schulich School of Business for their MBA program; to giving up the fast-tracking career that all MBAs aspire and choosing the road less travelled as an entrepreneur in the Creative Arts/Dance industry; to securing startup venture capital funding from two angel investors from Seattle, Washington; to testing myself on national television in front of Canada’s business elite on “Dragons’ Den” (and failing miserably! 😉 ); to finding my partner in love, life and dance and in particular the health challenges that we and our families have faced over the past few years.
And learning many Life lessons along the way.
So, as the New Year approaches, how shall I define my “Life’s Mission” for 2011 and beyond?
My personal Life philosophy has always been about taking risks and overcoming challenges. And in particular that “Artists” — whether in Dance, Music, Drama or other Creative Arts — need not feel guilty about aspiring to make loads of money from their work or at least being able to generate the income stream needed to one’s creative efforts for life, as with any other traditional profession.
There is a lingering romanticized stereotype of the “starving artist” which I understand is an echo from the mid-19th century writer Henri Murger’s Novel, “Scènes de la vie de bohème” that still pervades in the Performing Arts (especially Dance) communities.
My Life’s Mission re-defined for 2011 and beyond … is to inspire and empower other Arts Entrepreneurs and connect them with the business leaders of today who are blazing the trail for a new generation of business savvy Creative Artists.
This Holiday season & beyond, celebrate who you are & the life journey that has gotten you here! If you are an Arts Entrepreneur like me who has an interesting story to share, I would love to hear from you! Contact me through danceScape at (905) 633-8808, E-mail info@robert-tang.com, or through facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dancescape.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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Richard Florida is Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. His previous work includes national bestselling books as well as numerous papers and articles.
I first heard about Richard when I was a Board member at Performing Arts Burlington (now known as Creative Arts Burlington), and was inspired by the messages in “The Rise of the Creative Class“. He has recently released a new book called, “The Great Reset“. And he apparently plays a mean guitar!
If you’re an Arts Entrepreneur, I invite you to explore his theories about the Creative Class:
As Richard has stated in many interviews, every human being is creative and there are 38 million people privileged to be paid to be creative! Most people who talk about creativity consider three dimensions: technology, economic, and artistic or cultural. The Creative sector of the economy accounts more than 50% of all wages and salaries paid.
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A few months ago, I discovered that one of our friends, John Lawrence Reynolds, had co-written a book with Frank O’Dea, Co-founder of the Second Cup, the largest Canadian-owned specialty coffee retailer. If you are looking for inspiration about to overcome obstacles in life, “When All You Have is Hope” is a must-read book. Surviving sexualt assault and alcoholism in his teens and early twenties, Frank ultimately became a respected entrepreneur and one of Canada’s well known philanthropists.
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Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli was profiled on So You Think You Can Dance Canada last night. Just found footage of Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Opening Ceremonies featuring Luca. WOW, this bboy is an inspiration. NO EXCUSES to what we can all overcome and accomplish in life.
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ParticipACTION is the national voice of physical activity and sport participation in Canada. The organization’s goal is to inspire Canadians to increase their level of activity and to inspire society to make it easier to become more physically active.
I’m finally authorized to let everyone know that I have been selected by ParticipACTION to be in a television commercial that will be airing nationally on various stations throughout Canada, beginning April! My story (“Ballroom Dancing for Fun, Fitness & Romance“) was one out of almost 2,000 stories collected through ParticipACTION’s Get Inspired. Get Moving. campaign and posted directly to their online Wall of Inspiration.
It has been an interesting but FUN process to be transformed into a cartoon character! The animator took some liberties to add some “Latin” moves even though I’m a “Standard Ballroom Specialist” (Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep) lol !
But more importantly, I hope I can help inspire others — especially men — to learn to dance.
For more information about ParticipACTION, visit www.participaction.com (do a search for “Ballroom Dancing” or “danceScape”). Or read my story directly at http://www.participaction.com/en-us/Stories/ViewStories.aspx?StoryID=1318
Here is the excerpt from my personal ParticipACTION story:
It was my parents, Aaron & Judy, who introduced me to Ballroom Dancing. I didn’t know it yet at the time, but also to my future wife, Beverley.
My parents, sister and I immigrated to Canada in the early 1970s to escape from the political issues in Malaysia at the time. My father was a Ballroom Champion in his youth, and decided to revisit his passion by taking lessons in Waterdown, Ontario with my mother. When they decided to compete for their first time together at a competition in Kitchener, my sister and I decided to go to the event and cheer them on. It was there that I was introduced to Beverley and you could say, quickly became her “secret admirer”.
For someone who has had to battle chronic shyness and dyslexia throughout my youth and adult life, I discovered a way to cope with those challenges through the sport of competitive Ballroom Dancing. When my voice wouldn’t naturally say what my brain wanted, dancing was ideal for me because I could communicate non-verbally through facial expression and body movement. And the skill of leading a partner around the floor made it similar to a game of chess, so it provided a fun way to challenge my mind.
Our hard work started to pay off, and ultimately resulted in our becoming 3-time Canadian and 2-time North American Undefeated Amateur Ballroom Champions. We represented Canada at five World Amateur Championships, competing in Denmark, Holland, Austria, Germany, and Japan. Having participated in other sports like Martial Arts, Tennis, and Track & Field, I was training and expending energy that was equivalent to what I did in those other sports.
In 2001, my wife and I left our corporate jobs and began a new chapter of our lives as Ballroom Dance instructors. We’ve been teaching people to dance ever since, with students ranging from teens/youths, young adults, baby boomers and seniors.
If dancing has changed or added to your own lives, please share!
If you’re new to dancing, please joing me at danceScape in downtown Burlington, 2077 Pine Street (at Pearl). There are some FREE dance lessons coming up at the May Open Houses. Check out www.dancescape.com/events for dates and times or RSVP at http://lessons.dancescape.com. Beverley and I also have an instructional video, “for absolute beginners ballroom dancing” 2-DVD set that was featured on CBC’s Dragons’ Den (portion of proceeds will go towards the danceScape Endowment Fund).
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