From Rags To Riches
Nicholas Darvas, escaping his war-torn homeland, Hungary, sought
refuge in Turkey in June 1943. In Istanbul, however, he faced a
new crisis. Now, he had no friends, no money, no knowledge of
Turkish, and no citizenship. He risked starvation. He also
risked losing his sense of being special. He didn't want to be
poor and hungry for the rest of his life. No, he had fonder
hopes for himself. He wanted to thrive. He wanted to be an
outrageous success.
After the penniless 23-year-old exile fought off immediate
peril, he turned his mind back to dreams of glory. He analyzed
his situation by listing his talents. He dismissed numerous
options. Only one talent really appealed to him. Only one sang
to his soul. He loved to dance.
Yes, he finally decided, he would be a dancer.
Dancing fit his personality. In dancing, he had only to display
the grace of his body in motion. He did not have to be witty or
eloquent. He was basically a shy person.
He would be different, special, unusual. He would dance
amazingly well. He would be the best. No, better still, he would
be the best of the best. He would dance in the finest theaters
in the world. He would dance to packed audiences. He would flit,
like a butterfly, across the stages of the world's most
cosmopolitan cities. He would be a firefly of the night- life.
People would talk about him long after he had left the stage.
Newspapers would rave about his performances. Agents would
compete for his attention. Yes, people the world over would be
willing to pay a high price for the joy of seeing him dance.
Just by watching him, people would be enthralled. They would be
inspired by his power, speed, grace, agility. He would be
famous. No, world-famous. His life, he decided, would be one of
splendid, dancing, uplifting motion.
Slowly the images took shape in the theater of his mind. He
eagerly outlined how he would achieve his lofty ambition.
He considered a powerful twofold plan.
One, he would learn the latest dance steps. He would practice
until he could perform them smoothly, effortlessly, flawlessly.
Two, he would market his talent to the world. Talent alone might
land him numerous engagements in Turkey, but it would not open
up the rest of the world. He had to let the top people, the
wheelers-and-dealers of the entertainment industry, the
influential managers, producers, and agents know that he
existed. They would learn that he was someone to watch out for,
someone who would make them popular and very, very rich.
He rehearsed daily. He practiced, as he had promised himself,
the latest dance steps. His clumsy feet moved gracefully after
hours; his heavy legs rose off the ground, as if levitating,
after months. He read voraciously...devouring the the
international dance magazines. He learned avidly...about the
styles of the the best dancers. He investigated their favorite
locations, where only the elite performed.
Gradually, after years, as he exposed himself to the world of
dance, a map emerged in his mind. He saw a royal road. It led to
the glittering, night-lit cities, where the top dancers
mesmerized audiences. The royal road he envisioned in his mind
took him from here to there. Archimedes talked about wanting to
move the world with a lever - but he, Nicholas Darvas, would
spin it around on the balls of his feet.
On the route to success, Turkey would be the first milestone. He
would make himself well-known in his new homeland. Then, he
would spread his wings, like a butterfly blossoming in the
light. He would dance in the Middle East. He would dance in
Europe.
Eventually, he would dance in Paris. From Paris, he would leap
across the ocean and dance in New York. New York, he decided,
would be his ultimate destination. In New York, he would
establish his presence, and from there on he would be invited to
dance in all the big cities of the world. He would dance around
the world. He was Nicholas Darvas. He was invincible. His fate
was inevitable. It had all been decided. It was as good as done.
With his plan in his mind as clear as a vivid dream, he prepared
for New York. Now he spent three afternoons a week watching
American movies. He wanted to understand the culture. He wanted
to capture the American heart.
In these movies, he saw the dance routines that Americans loved.
But, he looked deeper, beyond dance, into trends, fashions in
drama. He saw a wide variety of movies. He discerned trends.
Vague patterns floated in his mind. Ideas came to him and he
wrote them down. There was something elusive he was tracking
down. It was subtle, a question of nuances. Elusive,
half-remembered dreams floated before him when he awoke in the
mornings. There were patterns before him, but he could not put
them together into one synergistic whole. Then after months of
accumulative musing, the ideas began to fall into place. He saw
dance trends in non-dance movies. For example, in gangster
movies, gun-shot victims reeled a number of times before dying.
Americans, he discerned, loved exaggeration, larger-than-life
stuff, heroic proportions to their drama.
Since the audience loved drama, he would give it to them in his
dance routines. Another trend also emerged. Suspense, intrigue.
Movie plots were full of mystery, confusion, surprise. He would
create a choreography full of these elements. The audience would
find him unpredictable, surprising, sensational.
A time came when he did indeed dominate the dance stage of
Turkey. He found occasional work in the Middle East. He now
moved to the second part of his plan: marketing.
Since he could not afford to buy the promotion he needed, he
created a sort of mail-order business. He gathered the names and
addresses of all those responsible for hiring dancers in France,
in Europe, and in New York. He assembled a gargantuan list of
theatrical agents, managers, and night-club owners. Every week,
without failing, he sent them regular mailings -- letters,
pictures and newspaper clippings about his latest dance
routines. He sent notices of when and where he would be
performing next. He sent publicity releases whenever he could,
where-ever he could. Slowly, these unknown people started to
respond. They wrote back to him, they visited his acts, they
invited him to their clubs. His dream was emerging, attaining an
energy and mass that even surprised him.
One day, in New York, in his dressing room, he looked at himself
in the mirror and smiled. A shiver ran up his spine. He was
looking at the highest-paid dancer in the world.
Later on in life, Nicholas Darvas created imaginary blueprints
for other fields. He thrived and enjoyed outrageous success in
everything that he tried. He went on to become a
multimillionaire, a successful theatrical producer, a real
estate tycoon, an international businessman, and a Wall Street
wizard (who made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market).
The Success Principle
A clear plan, a flexible strategy, and an invincible
determination will create your dream, no matter where you start
from.