HERstory

DANCE

To some, it's a simple hobby, not even considered a sport, used provocatively and some people come up with the most... interesting types (awkward silence)... but to me it's more than any of those things.

To me, dance is my emotion, my expression and my explanation. Everything that is felt within is left on the floor with a dancer.

“Save Your Tears for the Stage”.

I’ve been dancing for as long as I could remember. Although I wasn't on a “real” dance team until high school when I joined nearly every team in the school, I had always been a dancer. From dancing at elementary school talent shows, to having mini competitions with my friends in the neighborhood park, to battling my cousins at birthday parties and hearing my mother say "GO MAMA! DO THAT LIL' DANCE YALL BE DOING!"

Over the years, I've had many different performances in many different cities.. different styles with different people.. (Afro, Salsa, Majorette and Hip-Hop to name a few). It went from being a simple hobby to somewhat an addiction...in a good way.

I've learned, and am still learning many life lessons that I never imagined I would learn from dancing. I’ve formed some lifelong relationships and learned to appreciate the creativity of other dancers. I've learned that without "clout", people will treat you as if you’re inferior, but the superiority is within the dance in your heart. A true dancer reveals their greatest struggles and triumphs in their performance; the catch is that others don’t know your story, but they see how you tell it.

People say things like, “You’re so talented! I could never get up in front of all those people and do what you do!” .. Well, what “I do” is perform with mission consciousness; the awareness that art is used as a form of resistance. The more obstacles against me, the harder I strive.

“Art as a form of resistance”.

People look at me perform as see a brave, carefree soul that goes out and dances in front of hundreds of people with no worries... as if it's easy. In reality, dancing is simply my way of expressing my silenced emotions.

Isaiah 54:17: “No Weapon Formed Against Me Shall Prosper”.

#blog #dance #passion #purpose #resilience #constantgrowth