November 4, 2017 — Taking off on my theme from last week, and because YouTube gives suggestions based on what one watches, I happened upon Nikki Bella on Dancing with the Stars, a performance wrestler doing the perennial ballroom dance competition. I know those are different muscle groups, but it is still choreography, and both are athletic, so I can see this cross-over. Still, to put in a body slam of your male dancer at the end makes me happy. Okay, not that I want to slam my dance partner, I just want to be able to slam my dance partner. Seriously? Are there lessons for this wrestling stuff? It looks so fun. First a flip into the ring backwards (last week’s Halloween story), then a flip-slam of your dance partner. Count me in! Seriously, where do I find a dude for these things? Where are the lessons?

Keeping this about music, I’m not sure why, but I could see these athletic things crossing into music, the talents being present in one person. I remember a long, long time ago when I took private music lessons during school hours, something they allowed during my high school band class-hour, my teacher told me I was doing too much, that I should focus on one thing. I told him I thought things crossed from one to the other, that one skill helped the other. Heck I even think the ability to type fast helps one play music. But he debated me, wanted me to drop everything but music. I didn’t, but then again, I have no idea if he was right. If I had focused on one thing would I have developed into a star in that one thing? Is that necessary? Is that singular focus necessary … to be good?

Then I came across another video, again another suggestion, this time an interview with Robert Plant. I watched, expecting to hear something about his new album, expecting to hear something about how he doesn’t want to reunite a form of Led Zeppelin (it’s not Led Zeppelin without John Bonham, but that’s an entirely different story), about how he wants to keep creating and developing new music and not play for nostalgia’s sake. Sure, those topics are in this interview, but the good deal of the interview features Robert’s past-time of playing on a local Wales soccer (excuse me, football) team. The interviewer had a co-interviewer on the football field interviewing the fellow players on the evening that Robert would ordinarily be playing. The fellow players referred to Robert using their nickname for him — “Plantie” they call him. And they were quick to note Plantie is just Plantie — another player who’s view of his performance afterwards in the pub is better than his actual game, a regular guy on the field playing with them, not a rock legend. Pub stories aside though, I still got the impression Plantie isn’t half bad, at soccer that is.

Oh, and it appears this is not new for Plantie as I see from the assortment of photos of Plantie in a soccer shirt, as is current self (see the feature photo) and his younger self.

Plantie! Seriously, get some pants!

So my conclusion. My high school music teacher was wrong. Crossing over from music to athletic endeavors, athletic endeavors into dance, crossing over in all art is beneficial. Somehow these talents are related. So, lessons for flipping into a wresting ring backwards, dancing, and singing like Robert Plant! Sign me up for all!