The candidate dancers

There was a dance instructor who had a class, and he had someone come to the class with whom he was very impressed. He seemed to just have a feel for the music, and he could pick up dance steps very nicely. He introduced himself to this young man, who said that his name was James. The instructor felt that James was material for world class championships, and he wanted James to be a part of his class.

Then, there was another young man in the class, but he didn’t seem to have the same flair. He had great desire and determination, but he just didn’t seem to feel the tempo. The instructor spoke to him, saying “James”, but the young man said, “No, John”, so he responded, “Okay, John. You seem to be battling tonight but keep going. You’re working hard. That’s great.”

Then in another class, he saw the young man again and he saw that he was dancing beautifully again and he was really impressed as he watched him displaying the moves and the tempo. Then he saw James with James -- or John with John -- and he realised that they were brothers –James and John – who looked very much the same. James had the feel for dance and music which came naturally to him, while John was a hard worker who unfortunately didn’t have quite the same flair for dance as his brother. He noticed that James had a scar and John had something on his ear so learned to distinguish between the two. But he found that James frequently skipped classes, or when there was a competition he would simply not come. John would always be there and he worked hard. He didn’t do as well as his brother but he worked hard.

The day arrived for the national championships in which members of the dance school were going compete. He entered both James and John into the competition. As first time competitors, they were entered in the Beginner category. When their turns came and they went onto the floor to dance, the instructor realised that James had been absent when he had explained the rules, that dancing at the beginners’ level, the participants should not use moves or steps from an intermediate or advanced level, and definitely not from bronze, silver or gold levels. But James had seen some stunning moves when he watched dancers on TV, so he slipped in a move from the intermediate level, and he slipped in a move from the advanced level, and he even slipped in a move with great flair and success from the gold level. He was thoroughly startled when the judges marked him down. John, on the other hand, who had worked really hard and put forth his best effort and did the very best he could, received scores of 9’s and 10’s from the judges.

Now which of those two people would you most like to have on your team when you’re aiming for the world championships?