Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
"Success is 99% perspiration, 1% talent".
Whether that ratio is accurate or not is not the point. The point is that there's truth to it.
The world is full of talented people. Talented people that unfortunately do not see their talents come to full fruition. Of course there no doubt, natural talent & ability does help & in some cases, is the difference between dancers realising their full potential however in most cases whereby the dancer lacks in discipline, consistency & drive, that talent goes nowhere.
Instead, dancers that may have less talent but that make up for it with laser like focus, tend to excel better in the long run as talent can only take you so far.
Ultimately the best combination are dancers who have both, a combination of raw natural born talent as well as a disciplined approach to mastering their craft.
So which are you?