For The Love Of Dance: The True Beauty of the Sport

December 30, 2021

and yes its a sport!

It’s been a minute since I’ve been active on the blog and for that I apologize. SO much has been happening in my life at the moment and I wanted to take a step back to focus on my new platform, The Let’s Get Candid Podcast!

I never want to give up this platform but I just hadn’t been inspired to share anything here until I was chatting with someone for the podcast and I realized there was a topic that deserved a post. That is DANCE.

I grew up dancing my whole life and I recently learned from my parents that I actually used to hate it and towards the end of my dance career I also kinda hated it. Now I look back and wish I hadn’t quit and when I graduate and move home, I hope I can do a few dance classes at my old studio a month to get back into it.

So back to my feelings toward dance:

In elementary, middle and early high school I loved it so much. I chose to go to a middle and high school where I can be a part of the dance magnet program and was dancing every day of my life for almost 8 years.

Dance taught me so much more than how to dance.

Physically it taught me the importance of movement, flexibility, stretching my body and of course several styles of dance.

The importance of movement and stretching my body now is something I don’t take for granted because as I mentioned in the podcast episode going out this week, it taught me that its ok not to go to the gym to exercise, moving my body is my exercise. Its also really good for my mental health. Its a way to say thank you to my body for loving me and being with me and its how I treat it well, so I feel good in my body.

Dance also taught me presence, good posture and how to carry myself and for that I will FOREVER be grateful. I can walk into any room with my head held high, shoulders rolled back and a serene look on my face which yes is intimidating (don’t get me started on people saying I was stuck up and pretentious in not so nice ways because of this) but dance also taught me how to talk to anyone with respect and be engaging through all the people I met at competitions across the country.

Dance taught me good hygiene and grooming, how to do my hair and makeup and even styling. I had to get myself ready for performances in middle school and do my own stage makeup and buns so I got really good at it, which is where my love for it began! And of course hygiene because we’re in leotard and tights all day, sweat, periods, muscle balms, etc aka shower and take care of your skin.

It also taught me how to eat healthy and drink a lot of water which is so beyond important I just didn’t really get it at the time. More on that in the podcast episode, although lets just say I didn’t have the best eating habits and I’m still working through it. But I know the importance of nutrition and being conscious of what goes in my body and I did from a young age which is really special too.

Dance also taught me so much emotionally and mentally, which are even more important.

Emotionally it taught me how to express myself, that there were safe ways to and how to be in touch with my emotions and feelings. The different styles of dance, from lyrical to hip hop to salsa and the different styles of music gave me opportunities to work through my feelings and it was so beautiful.

In middle school I was diagnosed with depression and dance was my outlet. It was how I was able to feel in a safe place, through music and movement and let it all out.

LEAVE IT ON THE DANCE FLOOR.

That was the best lesson for me then. If only I had seen it at the time. More on that in a minute.

Mentally, it taught me endurance, stamina, perseverance and pushing through the pain because there is beauty on the other side.

Like I said, it was my way of expressing myself and I used dance to push through the pain and feel. Eventually I turned my back on dance because the depression became debilitating and now dance is a way I want to continue to nurture myself in the future because the beauty of dance is that it is so much more than dance.

It also taught me a lot about people and friendships and relationships. It taught me to be kind, something that I’ve struggled with for a long time and it taught me to leave my ego at the door and leave my emotions on the dance floor.

It taught me that nothing anyone says to me is personal, its protection of their own feelings and that I decide how I want to take up space in the world. It taught me how to approach the world, with my chin up and just keep dancing through life because everything happens for a reason and the song always ends and a new one begins.

That’s the beauty of dance. The greatest sport there ever was because it is so much more than just girls in tutus and dance competitions and trophies. It is a way of life, it is both athletic and artistic and it is a metaphor.

Thank you for dancing through life with me and for being a part of this community, it really does mean the world to me. See you on the dance floor!

Thanks for reading!

xo Kayla