“Once a dancer, always a dancer”

This phrase might sound a bit cliché, but personally I find the sentiment to be true. Dance has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Even today, dance still comes up in conversations I have with others, since I still consider it to be an integral part of my identity. While dance is no longer as central in my life as it was in the past, it continues to be one of my greatest passions.

When I was five years old, my mom enrolled me in ballet at a local studio that my aunt recommended. My mom says that I often danced around as a child, leading her to believe that dance would be a fitting activity for me (swimming was another story).

As a five-year-old in a tiny pink leotard and round glasses, I never could have imagined that the British Dancing Academy (BDA) would become like a second home to me. With each year that passed, my passion for ballet continued to grow. Each year, when my mom would ask if I wanted to continue doing ballet, I always answered “Yes!” without any hesitation.

When I started 7^th grade, I joined my middle school’s drill and dance team, in addition to continuing with ballet. The next year, I had to choose between dance team and studio dance at British. I decided to quit the dance team and started taking modern dance instead. That was the most difficult choice I had every made in my life up until that point, but I am incredibly grateful for how it all worked out.

For the next five years, I would continue my training in ballet and modern dance at BDA. This school teaches according to the standards of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) which is a prominent curriculum in dance schools across Europe. Just like in school, dance courses at BDA culminate in a series of annual examinations. At the advanced levels, dancers are required to pass their exams in order graduate to the next level.

 

 

While I was in high school, maintaining high standards in my academics as well as in dance was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. By my senior year, I was spending about ten hours per week at the studio (which is less than most of my peers), including Saturday morning ballet classes (which were my favorite). While dance was a wonderful escape from the stress of school, sometimes it became an additional source of stress itself, especially around exam time.

Following exams, BDA puts on a full stage production with beautiful costumes and a wide variety of choreography. They use dance to tell well-known tales such as The Wizard of Oz or The Little Mermaid. As a junior in high school, I danced the role of Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and as a senior, I was the Coachman in BDA’s adaptation of Disney’s Pinocchio.

Even though balancing school and dance simultaneously was incredibly difficult, I would not go back and change anything about my life as a dancer. Despite the countless late nights and tears shed out of frustration and anxiety, I believe that everything that I endured was instrumental in developing my character.

While the exams were challenging, they provided me with an opportunity to recognize my weaknesses and strive to achieve my personal best. As a result of our exams, we had strong technique that elevated our performing abilities. In addition, performing onstage was an indescribable experience that taught me to live in the moment. If it were not for BDA, I doubt that I would have experienced the classroom or the stage in the same way. The teachers and students at BDA became a second family to me, just as the studio became my second home.

As you can imagine, graduating from BDA was difficult for me. I had spent fourteen years of my life at that studio, which was a long time in comparison with the four years I had spent at my high school. Even though I loved dance, I knew that pursuing a career was a dancer was not financially feasible for me. So when I got to UW, I tried a couple of the modern dance classes. These classes were so foreign to what I had experienced at BDA I decided that my time as a dancer was done.

When I saw that UW was offering a beginning tap class, I decided to give dance at UW one more chance. Through my inspiring, encouraging teacher and wonderful classmates, my passion for dance took on a new identity in college. After a long day of classes and academic anxiety, tap class was just what I needed to apply my intellect in a different way. After taking multiple quarters of tap, dance history and anatomy for dance, I declared myself as a dance minor at UW.

Now that I have graduated from college, I am uncertain as to what my relationship with dance will look like in the future. Ever since I graduated from BDA, I have gone back each June to volunteer backstage as a costume changer. This year, I was honored to be asked to be the house manager for their 2018 production of Aladdin. It has been a lot of hard work, but I am thrilled to be giving back to back to a place that was crucial to shaping the person that I am today.

Looking back, I learned many valuable lessons in my life as a dancer. Dance taught me to adapt quickly, to make the most of every situation and to seize the moment. Dance taught me how to keep calm under pressure and deal with unforeseen circumstances with maturity and professionalism. Dance taught me how to deal with failure, to embrace it, and to move on with grace. Dance taught me to value constructive criticism and to listen in order to change and become the best version of myself.

Most of all, dance allowed me to experience a fullness and richness of life that I have yet to experience anywhere else. There is nothing I can compare to dancing onstage with the lights shining down, feeling like you are just where you belong. When I danced, I experienced moments of immense balance and clarity, when I was perfectly tune with my own body as well as with the bodies of those around me. In the quest for perfection – to nail the turns, finish the jumps, smile through it all – there was a sense of power and accomplishment in achieving what few humans are able to achieve. Dancers access this power through their ability to eliminate the pressure of the external gaze and to tap into something deeper – the inherent potential within the human soul.

“Dancers are the athletes of God.” –Albert Einstein

“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is the power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.” –Agnes de Mile