a tiny dancer's big thoughts
I dance at Art in Motion Dance Studio, under a steel roof of an old warehouse building located in the back of a cul de sac. This is where I allow myself to go insane to stay sane. Here, I spend 20 to 25 hours a week learning, teaching, and perfecting the technique of various dance styles - contemporary, jazz, lyrical, ballet, tap, hip hop, modern, and pointe. At the age of 10, I fell in love with movement and the intricate shapes that the human body can create. The studio is the canvas, the dancer is the painter, and the body is the artwork. Everyday I find new ways to create art that I’ve never seen before in hopes to share and exhibit it to the world on a stage.
As a member of the competition team, we take our artwork on the road. The choreography season starts in August, and we create group dances as well as select solos, duets, and trios. By December, my studio completes 50+ routines to take onstage to national competitions that occur until July. In places such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis, we travel on the weekends to perform our routines against the top studios of the nation, going head to head in competition in front of a panel of esteemed judges from Broadway, LA, and beyond.
I could continue simply telling you about what we do and how we do it, but that’ll get boring. So I’m going to share my opinions on this crazy world of dance, and hopefully you learn a few new things along the way. I’ll start with the negative so we can end on a good note:)
Cons:
Money. I have my bets on the fact that this is the most expensive extracurricular activity on the planet, and I’ve wished many times that I picked a passion that wasn’t so cost-consuming. To paint a picture for you: Each custom-made costume is $130, and I have around 11 dances a year requiring these costumes. These costumes need rhinestones, which cost around $200 to cover all costumes for one year. Makeup costs another $120 per year, jewelry is another $50, and dance shoes are $40 for each pair of adage/jazz/tap/ballet/etc shoes. For a single competition per person, every group routine costs $50 and every solo costs $110 to simply perform. Which means every competition that you attend with 10 groups and 1 solo will cost around $660. We attend around 6 competitions a year. Hotels cost around $150 per night, plus gas money to drive up since each family drives separately. I haven’t touched on the cost of training or anything, but as you can see, dance is awfully costly.
Toxicity. The dance world can get so competitive so easily, and it’s confusing because dance is completely subjective. A dancer could win 1st place at one competition where the judges loved them, and 9th place at the next competition with the same routine simply because a different panel of judges didn’t like them as much - or their costume, or song, or facial expressions - as much as the others. Dancers with perfect technique could place lower than a dancer without the best technique simply because the judges valued their stage presence more. My teammates (some of my best friends!) and I don’t ever mean to be competitive, but when you stand up on stage during awards receiving scores, you can’t help but compare. Criticism is instilled into the dance culture, whether it helps push you forward or holds you back.
Time-consumption. I spend every Monday and Wednesday at the studio from 5:00 to 9:30 taking classes, and I teach on Tuesdays for 1-2 hours, and also teach on Thursdays from 5:00 until 9:15. Rehearsals are weekly, lasting from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays. Basically, I’m never home. This sucks especially on nights that we seem to have mountains of homework waiting for me to do, and when I’m just sleep deprived and have to fight through it. It would all be a waste of time if I didn’t truly love what I did. So, I’ll tell you the pros.
Pros:
My team. We have around 75 girls and 1(one!) boy - his name is Kash, he is 10 years old, and he has the sweetest laugh in the world, plus some killer jumps, might I add. The age ranges from 4 years old to 18 years old. Yes! 4 years of age! We love our little tiny dancer balls of sunshine! I get to teach some young dancers ranging from ages 5 to 8, and they make my entire week. These kiddos have the biggest hearts I have ever seen, and they don’t care about criticism. They remind me of why I chose to dedicate so much of my life to dance in the first place - because it brought me joy. I have also found some of my dearest friends on my team. We have grown through the bad and cherished the good together, spending nights upon nights and long weekends with each other. They’re my sisters. Through dance, we understand each other in ways that no one else could, and for that, I’m forever grateful.
Joy. Dance makes me so happy. Whether I have the whole studio to myself with my favorite song on blast or I’m onstage performing our group productions with my best friends, it sends a rush of serenity through my body. I let the music take over my limbs and lead me around the dance floor, painting whatever piece I feel inspired to create. I have trouble explaining it, but I get a sensation that allows me to bring myself into a little world without worries or fears, where I get to forget about any math test coming up or a family argument held earlier, and I put myself solely in the moment of movement. It relieves me from the stress of outside factors, and it gives me a sense of peace within myself and with the world around me.
Life lessons. I’ve learned a lot through dance. I’ve discovered how to prioritize my time, work diligently even when my muscles and mind are fatigued, use memory (of choreography in particular) in my favor, work with a team, be dedicated, and stay passionate. At the end of any long night at the studio, I go home thankful for the ability to move my body and to share my passion with the people around me. I’ve learned how to see the world as its own big artwork, with the creation of beautiful shapes in a constant state of flux. I’ve come to believe that we’re all dancers trying to find the right choreography through our lives - so allow the music to seep through your soles, through your limbs, and to your heart. After all, if we have the ability to move... why walk when you can dance?
As a member of the competition team, we take our artwork on the road. The choreography season starts in August, and we create group dances as well as select solos, duets, and trios. By December, my studio completes 50+ routines to take onstage to national competitions that occur until July. In places such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis, we travel on the weekends to perform our routines against the top studios of the nation, going head to head in competition in front of a panel of esteemed judges from Broadway, LA, and beyond.
I could continue simply telling you about what we do and how we do it, but that’ll get boring. So I’m going to share my opinions on this crazy world of dance, and hopefully you learn a few new things along the way. I’ll start with the negative so we can end on a good note:)
Cons:
Money. I have my bets on the fact that this is the most expensive extracurricular activity on the planet, and I’ve wished many times that I picked a passion that wasn’t so cost-consuming. To paint a picture for you: Each custom-made costume is $130, and I have around 11 dances a year requiring these costumes. These costumes need rhinestones, which cost around $200 to cover all costumes for one year. Makeup costs another $120 per year, jewelry is another $50, and dance shoes are $40 for each pair of adage/jazz/tap/ballet/etc shoes. For a single competition per person, every group routine costs $50 and every solo costs $110 to simply perform. Which means every competition that you attend with 10 groups and 1 solo will cost around $660. We attend around 6 competitions a year. Hotels cost around $150 per night, plus gas money to drive up since each family drives separately. I haven’t touched on the cost of training or anything, but as you can see, dance is awfully costly.
Toxicity. The dance world can get so competitive so easily, and it’s confusing because dance is completely subjective. A dancer could win 1st place at one competition where the judges loved them, and 9th place at the next competition with the same routine simply because a different panel of judges didn’t like them as much - or their costume, or song, or facial expressions - as much as the others. Dancers with perfect technique could place lower than a dancer without the best technique simply because the judges valued their stage presence more. My teammates (some of my best friends!) and I don’t ever mean to be competitive, but when you stand up on stage during awards receiving scores, you can’t help but compare. Criticism is instilled into the dance culture, whether it helps push you forward or holds you back.
Time-consumption. I spend every Monday and Wednesday at the studio from 5:00 to 9:30 taking classes, and I teach on Tuesdays for 1-2 hours, and also teach on Thursdays from 5:00 until 9:15. Rehearsals are weekly, lasting from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays. Basically, I’m never home. This sucks especially on nights that we seem to have mountains of homework waiting for me to do, and when I’m just sleep deprived and have to fight through it. It would all be a waste of time if I didn’t truly love what I did. So, I’ll tell you the pros.
Pros:
My team. We have around 75 girls and 1(one!) boy - his name is Kash, he is 10 years old, and he has the sweetest laugh in the world, plus some killer jumps, might I add. The age ranges from 4 years old to 18 years old. Yes! 4 years of age! We love our little tiny dancer balls of sunshine! I get to teach some young dancers ranging from ages 5 to 8, and they make my entire week. These kiddos have the biggest hearts I have ever seen, and they don’t care about criticism. They remind me of why I chose to dedicate so much of my life to dance in the first place - because it brought me joy. I have also found some of my dearest friends on my team. We have grown through the bad and cherished the good together, spending nights upon nights and long weekends with each other. They’re my sisters. Through dance, we understand each other in ways that no one else could, and for that, I’m forever grateful.
Joy. Dance makes me so happy. Whether I have the whole studio to myself with my favorite song on blast or I’m onstage performing our group productions with my best friends, it sends a rush of serenity through my body. I let the music take over my limbs and lead me around the dance floor, painting whatever piece I feel inspired to create. I have trouble explaining it, but I get a sensation that allows me to bring myself into a little world without worries or fears, where I get to forget about any math test coming up or a family argument held earlier, and I put myself solely in the moment of movement. It relieves me from the stress of outside factors, and it gives me a sense of peace within myself and with the world around me.
Life lessons. I’ve learned a lot through dance. I’ve discovered how to prioritize my time, work diligently even when my muscles and mind are fatigued, use memory (of choreography in particular) in my favor, work with a team, be dedicated, and stay passionate. At the end of any long night at the studio, I go home thankful for the ability to move my body and to share my passion with the people around me. I’ve learned how to see the world as its own big artwork, with the creation of beautiful shapes in a constant state of flux. I’ve come to believe that we’re all dancers trying to find the right choreography through our lives - so allow the music to seep through your soles, through your limbs, and to your heart. After all, if we have the ability to move... why walk when you can dance?
When the name Grace is brought up, one of the first things I think of is dance. I've seen many videos of you dancing and hanging out at the Art in Motion studio, and I think you had a smile on your face almost all the time. Because we only see the happy moments that you share on social media, we tend to forget how difficult of a commitment dancing is. The cons in your blog post touched on this commitment. Great blog post.
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