Dancers Among Us

For those of you who don't know about my passion or my story ..

I've been dancing since I was about 8 years old, none of my classes were ever too serious and I still to this day have never taken classes from an actual studio. My freshman year of high school I was on pep-squad, which people are always embarrassed about but as a freshman that's your only option for dance and there's absolutely nothing wrong with pep squad. I just wanted to dance. So I did that and tried out for JV dance my sophomore year and made it. Here comes the kicker, my junior year I tried out for Varsity Dance. 7 juniors made it that year, and I was one of them. 7 is not a lot at ALL if you know the size of my high school, and all the other juniors that made it had been dancing in studios for a while. I think then was when I realized that God really did give me this ability, even if I'm not the best.

People don't know how hard I had to work to get up to that level, watching tv in a straddle, forcing myself to stretch EVERY night before bed, teaching myself skills that every other girl had already known from their studio. I taught myself everything and probably had to work twice as hard as some of these girls. I don't think I'm by any means a "good" dancer at all, but I'm proud to be where I am especially knowing that I can work hard and master almost anything. [I just have to build up the guts].
I've had experience teaching dance before I even became a legit dancer, I've been teaching since I was in 5th grade, and I was the hip hop director for American Dance Company recently.
 Your life changes being a dancer, you see things as beautiful that other people wouldn't see. You appreciate random things. You respect a person with good technique and flexibility. You don't walk nearly as much as you used to because dancing is more fun. You refer to the butterfly as a stretch more often than an insect. You have blisters on your feet permanently. You get excited when you form calusses on the balls of your foot. You don't realize how much french you know just from dance terms alone.  People play with you like a barbie because they're fascinated with the way you bend. Your toes are pointed so much that people make sure to tell you about it every chance they get. Your body cracks in abnormal places. You have multiple drawers dedicated to dance attire/shoes. You don't think it's weird for boys to wear tights.
I just think dance is beautiful, it really is a way of life.