Glenn Donkers, a passionate dancer who is aware of the human brain

Let me introduce you to this young, handsome guy whose ambitious mind and business is about dancing. ‘Salsa’ to be more specific, and one of my passions too, so this is how we met. We talk about self-development, happiness and insights of the brain to create a better world. 

Glenn, you already have a successful salsa dance school with your sister. I see a lot of passion and ambition in you. What are your dream/ plans for the future?
To get the best out of myself, in all kind of ways.
To be able to serve other people with my passion. Dancing promotes people well being and has a positive impact on their lives. Physically, but certainly also socially and emotionally. People really become happy from dancing. I want to expand our dance school, making collaborations with others.

No dance movie for you, with you in it, in the future?
I never thought of this actually. My focus and ambition are to participate in big international show-dance performances. But I’m open for everything. 

How would you describe your dance style?
Explosive, classy. The emotion in dancing is very important for me plus the connection with my dance partner. I let her shine and I like to get lost in dancing together.

Where do you find your inspiration for dancing?
Sometimes just in a spontaneous situation in everyday life. Things drop into my head and I daydream often about it. I just look for passion inside of me. But I also watch YouTube for other dance styles and sports. I like to learn of everything and everyone and create something new.

What advice will you give to other driven dancers?

 “Don’t invest just solely in your dance, also invest in yourself. Dance is life, and life is dance”

What I mean by this is that everything in life is connected. I become a better dancer by becoming a better person, and vice versa.Do you have any other dreams for the future except for dancing?
To develop myself in all kind of ways, to develop my qualities and enjoy life doing so.
And I would like to have kids later, but not yet.

Who are/is your role model in life?
Jordan Peterson, a psychologist, known for his controversial opinions. How he describes the concepts of life in his book “The 12 rules of life ” resonates with my reality; how I perceive things and as I have experienced things myself. Before I red his book, I haven’t been able to understand these concepts. But because of him, I gained a better insight into myself and how the human system and the brains work.

What are you grateful for?
That I grew up as I have. That I still have my family around me and can work together with them. The basic elements that you get from home are so crucial and, so is the place where you were born. I was always allowed to follow all my passions; my parents gave me that freedom.

What does success means to you?

 “Success is to have your norms and values clear and to have the focus to be able to live them”

What are you most proud of?
That I have been able to be financially independent through my passion. That I have found my calling, what I wanted to do, and also how I want to do it. I never feel like I go to work, I love what I do.  And also…that I can be of service to other people. Make them happy too.

What drives you?
Curiosity and love. And the combination of these two related towards each other.

What kind of people inspires you?
People who think before they speak out loud. I feel like the world is full of people shouting thoughts out loud, but they have not spent a minute thinking about them first. I also get inspired by people who share the same values as me. People who achieved things and carry themselves out into the world, for themselves and for others. Like Jordan for example. He is saying controversial stuff, and get a lot of hate for it in return. For what he believes, for a better world, he puts his reputation at stake to carry out his opinion.

What can we do better in our society?

 “We first have to have a better understanding of ourselves, our behaviour patterns and emotions, and because of that we can have better collaborations with others”

How can you understand others if you don ‘t even understand yourself? Know your own qualities and worthiness as a human, so you can love yourself and others. Know your own demons and struggles so you can be compassionate for others. This is seriously what I believe in.

In my opinion, we have to change the education system. Children are the future right? Everything revolves around performance and not how you deal with things. The result is that my generation starts to get burn out lots of them get depressed! The pressure is immense.

Children don ‘t get the opportunity to investigate what they like in life. They shouldn’t sit for 8 hours a day on a bench, learning logical stuff only. We need to find a better balance.

What kind of things touches you or fascinates you?

Knowing that you actually do not know anything. The Darwin theory, the big bang, we are so small and insignificant.

“What fascinates me is how it comes that we exist, how little we actually know of science”

What’s important for you in life?
Passion, family and self-development. I like to grow and see other people doing that as well.

What makes you happy?
Being with my friends and family. Dancing and being able to share this with others. What characteristics make you the way you are and participate in the success you have already?
Self-reflection and discipline.

What about other things in life you like to learn?
Businesswise, I like to learn about marketing

Do you travel a lot for work/salsa?
I regularly go to other countries for salsa. Latin dance festivals are everywhere in the world. They are awesome! A weekend full of people wanting to share their passion for a weekend. This makes amazing atmospheres.

What country can you recommend most for travelling, specific for dancing?
I ‘m a fan of the Paris international salsa congress, and Marrakech in Morocco has also a congress, which is great fun!

And if dancing is not involved?
Italy has some beautiful architecture and I love the temper of the people.

I also love Curacao. Clear water, beautiful monuments and a lot of beautiful life in the sea.

What’s your favourite place to spend your time in general?
To chill at my own place, to work at my parent’s place and to dance & teach in my dance school. Those three are my favourite places.

I think you caught my eyes cause you’re different than other guys, well styled, you have a special look that rocks. How would you describe your style?
Shout out to my sister and mother who schooled me! Haha, when I started dancing this became a thing for me, they would always bring me clothing and try to convince me into new looks. After years of resisting, I started appreciating and understanding clothing and fashion in general.

“The way you look gives people a quick first glance into who you are”

I clothe myself, to express myself. I think you can describe my style as Classy en well groomed and sometimes Raw- sporty.

What’s your life slogan?
I don’t think there is 1 slogan to live. It would be too short to capture everything that we have spoken about. But for the question’s sake I guess I would say:

 “Fill your life as you want it, and live it”