Here is to the dancers.

This post is driven mostly because I just finished watching BYU's "Evidance" Dance Concert. This concert consisted of folk dancing, ballet, contemporary, ballroom and lots of others. But I'd like to just talk about dance.

**Disclaimer: I'm not actually a dancer. I like to pretend but I'm not nor do I actually pose as one.**

That being said this post will be dedicated to my roommate Hannah, and my friend Ben, and Chayce. They are my friends from BYU (they are literally the best) who are amazing dancers and they don't mind if I watch their rehearsals or if I pretend like I can dance. So here is to them!

I've always loved watching dance. If there was one thing I could go back and tell my mom to do for me it would to be put me in dance classes (even though this didn't happen, my mom did awesome and I had a great childhood). I love attending dance recitals, watching So You Think You Can Dance, and watching dance numbers in musicals.

The reason why I love dance is the beauty and strength of it. Have you ever looked at a dancer's legs? They are so strong, yet when they dance they are as light as a feather. Dancers have amazing discipline and can make you feel something without saying a word. Dancers tell a story and there are so many different stories to be told that dancers keep dancing and every time a new story is told.

I saw this really beautiful contemporary number tonight where a man and a woman each carried each other through the number (I hope that makes some sense). Partner work to me is very interesting; neither partner is more important than the other and throughout the number each person is lifting and supporting each other.

Tuesday (which was an awful day) I was able to sit in on Hannah and Ben's Latin rehearsal and they walked in there not having a routine and within 2 hours they had a routine they could work off but it was amazing to see my two funny and quirky get down to business. They would start and they were serious (not in the boring way though and they only stayed this way until they finished or messed up). Partner work is all about trust and you have to trust your partner or it doesn't work.

I relate dancing to life. You have to be dedicated and strong yet you try to be beautiful and graceful (and if you have seen Mulan 2 this should make you think of the first song in the movie) but you don't start out that way you work and somehow you mold yourself into the kind of person you want to be. And then partner dancing could be between an guy and girl or two friends. Both relationships take lots of trust and even if you practice at one point you are going to have to go all in and hope they catch you. If they don't you get up and try again. Maybe not exactly the same way or if you and partner work it out (also known as communication).

As you can see dancing is just an extension of life plus the story they are telling in the moment. This being said put your kids in dance, go see the ballet, appreciate and go see it.
This is my spiel about dance. Take it or leave it :)

 

 

 

This is Ben trying to deal with my inability to dance.

But I try! That should count for something, right? Lol.