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I am a dancer. It’s something I’ve only learned recently, but it’s my reality. My story is not one of the typical dancer: I was not the student who couldn’t sit still or pay attention in class, only to find focus and expression through movement. That just isn’t my story. I’ve always been able to sit still, stay engaged, and absorb what my teachers threw at me: I was a “good student”. I would sit at my desk, listen and learn, then go home and do my homework. But, the entire time I embodied that “good student”, I felt like something was missing. It wasn’t physical health—I stayed active and had a healthy diet. But, there was a disconnect between my mind and body. For the longest time, I felt like I lived from the neck up. I love to learn —I always have—but before dance, I was only focused on learning with my head.
At the beginning of my junior year I picked up dance. It started on a bit of a whim: I liked watching and I thought learning some moves would help me impress girls. So, I grabbed a like-minded friend and started attending classes. Once I began, I was surprised by how much I liked it. I had discovered something in it that I hadn’t been expecting; I found that I was learning with my entire body. Not to mention that at the same time, I was learning about my body itself—how it worked and moved, every little muscle and bone. My friend eventually quit, but I kept attending class, and began to add more and more classes to my schedule. I dove deep into dance and took every opportunity that I could find to learn. Dancing was like returning to my childhood, like learning to take those first steps. I was learning how my body moved, how to challenge and develop it, and how to interact with other people through a new language. It challenged me in a completely new way and I’ve loved every second of it.
Dance has changed my life. Through it, I’ve met people who challenge my beliefs about how the world works and how we all learn. It’s shown me many different paths and ways to navigate through life. I’ve found role models in my teachers who engage me mentally and physically and push me to grow; teachers who I am lucky enough to also call my friends. I’ve found a global and local community of hardworking, intelligent, and skilled people who are always hungry to learn; a community where everyone is accepted, because dance transcends everything—race, class, gender, religion, even language. And for the first time, I’ve found a community where I am fully supported and accepted; a feeling, it seems, that I had never experienced before. Through all of this, I have found a part of my identity and I am proud to call myself a dancer because of it.
