- Artist Name:
- Vladimir Horowitz
- Song Title:
- Scriabin Etude In C Sharp Minor, Op. 2, No. 1
- Album Title:
- Vladimir Horowitz: Favorite Encores
- Artist Website:
- http://www.vladimirhorowitz.info/
(Nancy Speaking): David, are we allowed to say he may be our favorite of all musicians?
- 00:04
- There was a period of about,
I don’t know how many months.
- 00:09
- So there was a period of some number of months...
- 00:10
- ..where every week, we would go
and we would film me and, film us…
- 00:15
- ..and we’d just do stuff.
- 00:16
- We’d walk and we’d look at it on film
and then we’d say,...
- 00:18
- ..“Well how could it be better?”
- 00:20
- And then we’ll say,
“Oh, well maybe we should step more through,”...
- 00:22
- ..or maybe the path of the legs
should be different.
- 00:26
- And I think this practice of filming yourself
periodically is very helpful.
- 00:30
- But, I also want to tell you when to do it.
- 00:33
- So first of all,
don’t do it for the first six month or a year.
- 00:37
- Because, at the first year, let’s say,
you don’t need any extra help to get better.
- 00:41
- You have lots of feedback coming in.
You have lots of learning.
- 00:44
- And lots of suffering, too, right?
- 00:45
- Because the learning happens maybe too fast.
- 00:47
- But after a while, when it feels like
maybe you’re starting to plateau,…
- 00:51
- ..or, let's just say arbitrarily after one year,
then you've sort of had a chance…
- 00:56
- ..to get used to tango and the vocabulary
and now you can focus more on getting better.
- 01:01
- You know, doing the same thing but better...
- 01:03
- ..instead of doing more things, just so you can survive.
- 01:07
- And, so, when you film yourself,
I want you to think of a number of things.
- 01:09
- The first thing is I want you to be kind to yourself.
- 01:11
- So, the camera is a brutal and cruel beast.
- 01:14
- And it finds all your flaws and, somehow,
it doesn’t find the right things.
- 01:18
- You know, the moments of beauty
even though they’re there.
- 01:21
- And part of that has to do with your eye.
- 01:23
- So, when you watch, not only should you
forgive yourself your mistakes…
- 01:27
- ..but, you should also recognise your strengths.
- 01:30
- For example, a person - it’s really interesting actually,…
- 01:34
- ..you’ll watch a couple do a performance
and they’ll look amazing.
- 01:37
- And you’ll talk to them afterwards, and they’re like
“Yeah, we really messed up that one step.”
- 01:41
- And it was like, half a second and
she stumbled just a little bit…
- 01:44
- ..and that’s what they remember.
- 01:45
- They don’t remember the other three minutes
and forty two seconds of awesomeness.
- 01:49
- And that’s what people are like
when they watch themselves on film.
- 01:52
- So, remember the awesomeness,
as well as that which needs improvement.
- 01:57
- And then when it comes to
look at what needs to be improved,...
- 02:01
- ..think broadly.
- 02:03
- I mean you cannot just look at it
from a critical eye.
- 02:05
- But you can also say,
"What else can I do that would change how I dance?"
- 02:09
- “How do I dance tango,
after I dance modern?”
- 02:11
- Or “How do I dance tango,
after I've gotten a massage.
- 02:14
- Or “How do I dance tango after
I've just hugged my partner?”
- 02:17
- Right? So you can also do it
in this contextual way…
- 02:22
- ..and I think that is also very useful.
- 02:24
- But the most important: be kind to yourself...
- 02:27
- ..but do video tape yourself
after maybe a year or so.
