The Heart

Growing up, from a dancer’s perspective, I danced at a relatively “good” studio, and I was known as a relatively “good” dancer. The studio was small, however, we won competitions often and we all had impressive skills or tricks we used to our advantage at competitions. Growing up in this environment, I had the mindset that there was a concept of “good” or “bad“ studios. This was due to the skills presented in dances and the trophies on the walls. I had an image created in my head of the “bad” studios, in which they would fool around during class, and not pay attention to what they were doing or what the teacher was instructing.

One day, two summers ago, my friend who danced at a different studio asked me to come join one of her classes for one day only. At first, I hesitated, knowing that her studio wasn’t known for competing, and the dances looked quite sloppy on stage, lacking tons of technique. However, at the end of the day, I agreed, and 2 weeks later I stepped foot in her studio. I instinctively got the vibe from the classroom that this studio wasn’t even comparable to mine. I was constantly comparing how awful their studio was against ours, or thoughts about how if we competed against each other at a competition, they would get crushed by mine.

Throughout the course of the class, I ended up asking many questions about the dance industry, and another student would always jump to answer. Then what really stuck out to me was when the dance instructor was about to say the best dancer of the day, at first I immediately thought it would be me, I knew every trick, and anybody in the dance world could tell I was at a higher level than these kids around me. The teacher didn’t call me. The teacher called on the student who repeatedly answered my questions. This moment is when I gained a new perspective on dancers. Just because these other dancers weren’t as experienced or technical, they knew what they were doing. They knew their goals and what they needed to work on, always going full out in their dances, always being prepared for class, and most importantly, they were always trying their absolute hardest. I realized they weren’t “bad” dancers, they were just inexperienced. They were dancers who brought their hearts on stage and really gave it their all. This became a new goal for me. I not only used my tricks, I started dancing with my heart.This experience has improved my dancing for the better, and my teacher even commented on my improved dancing. “I love how you love to dance” is what she claimed. The experience has shaped me now to never judge a dancer on stage, never comment on how bad their performance was, and never judge technique. Technique and tricks are a fundamentally important part of dance, however, we never know how hard someone works outside the studio walls, and I learned that an average dancer who enjoys dancing is way better than a skilled dancer who hates it.