What Dance Taught Me

amygrace&Toby Ali '13

I am a terrible dancer.

This may come as a surprise, but it is true.

I don't know if I found dance or dance found me...But I do know we are intertwined now, a forever bond that keeps my feet to the rhythm.

On a whim in 2011, I decided I wanted to learn how to Swing Dance and thus the training began.  (albeit with a few years of basic figure skating under my belt, I understood only the concept of movement on ice.)  

You may not know it now, but I still struggle with the theory and fundamentals of dance.  As I do with most things.  

Watch me at a dance, and you may think I am making this up and it is all in my head.

Maybe that is where it starts.  Inside my head, I am my own worst enemy.  I fumble up on thinking through footwork, and I complicate moves by processing on overdrive.  I end up confused, tangled and out of sync.

Yet, I still dance.

In amidst all my doubts and clumsiness over myself I have become that woman who can surprise a 'lead' with a move that adds depth and creativity.  I can use musicality and personality to my advantage and I routinely and stubbornly practice moves until I have learned them.

Over all the flubs and flat out feet cringing moments, learning dance has taught me that no matter what may seem confusing, too much or too complicated, if the desire is there and I put dedication in, I will reach a level where I can look back and see how much I learned, can do and have achieved.

One clumsy foot after another.