Beginning Blues? Intermediate Slump? What holds you back?

I had a teacher once tell me that the difference between an Intermediate dancer & an advanced dancer was simply the anticipation of what came next - "advanced is all in the transitions", was her theory. She said there was rarely a huge difference in movement skill between intermediate and advanced: all of the difference lay in the seamless quality one begins to develop as an advanced dancer. "unfortunately," she said, "it's the most difficult thing to acquire - it's mostly psychic, and can only be encouraged; it cant really be taught."

i was in a Rachel Brice workshop once and as the class opened she asked "who in here considers themselves a beginning dancer?" almost all hands went up. "intermediate?" four or five hands went up. "advanced?" one, meek, slow, shoulder-height hand went up. we all looked around at each other.

for some reason this is what i woke up thinking about this morning. What holds people back from owning their skill level? from claiming themselves advanced? Is it like the "expert" thing - you're an expert when someone else says you are, but you cant call yourself one? is it modesty? ego? too many times being told you shouldn't brag? fear? and what holds people back from advancing to the next level?

maybe people feel like until they're "declared" intermediate/advanced by someone else, they have no business setting foot in an intermediate/advanced level class - like by attending, they're claiming themselves to be something they're not (and everyone will know, and they'll be embarrassed, etc.) Like if they say "i'm advanced" they'll be challenged?
BUT - if you stay in beginning level for ever, while your understanding of beginning material will deepen and you may become a very advanced beginner, you'll never become intermediate - you have to push yourself in to intermediate material! In fact, I think you have to continually put yourself in situations where the material is just over your head in order to advance. (what i call "fake it till you make it!")

Advancing is very uncomfortable. All of the hot-faced, sweaty palmed, jumblystomached nervousness of being a brand new dancer on your first day of class must be repeated again and again - every time you master one set of skills, it's time to plunge yourself in to another. it requires ditching your pride at the door and being willing to make a complete ass of yourself in public. you have to be available to yourself, you have to be willing to strip yourself down, be wrong, fuck up, not be strong enough/fast enough/coordinated enough. and frankly...that sucks! BUT! that's why the thrill of accomplishment becomes so gratifying! i tell my teen students that being a dancer equals being a little crazy. you have to be addicted to public humiliation. it's a very unsafe life =)

i think of it like a language. Learning a new language requires challenge and immersion. Frequently you can stay in a beginning language class, or listen to language tapes that break down grammar and pronunciation forEVER. and you can recite that language tape backward and forward, you know the order of all the prepositions - but good luck trying to order food or ask for a subway ticket. conversational language is strange, fast, full of colloquialism's and slang and corner-cutting. The only way to really develop fluency is to speak with people in that language, no matter how much you stumble, no matter how red your cheeks get over your clumsy pronunciation and slow tongue. But after every conversation you find new ways to apply what you do know, and see where the basics you've acquired can really take you in communication.

Is humility the secret to advancing technique in anything? Does that explain why some of the most incredible dancers and performers out there are the most genuine, cool, humble down to earth people?
Is ego the thing that holds us back from the things we desire most?
Isn't it odd to think that what we want most is to master something, but fear of looking like we dont know stuff is what keeps us from challenging ourselves to become a master?

i dont think i'm going anywhere with all this (i'm posting before coffee again, i keep saying i'm going to stop that!), but i'd love to hear your thoughts!