What Dance Is: A Guest Post

 Today I have a guest post from the lovely Emma who blogs at thedancechronicles.blogspot.com

Dance is a tangible way to express intangible thoughts and feelings.  Every specified movement of the hand, every distinct turn of the head, is part of the character you’re playing. Dance is captivating for me because you can imprint emotions on an audience through movement.  It's presented to audiences as a pure art form composed of flawless steps and gravity-defying movements.  

But I've seen--and experienced--first-hand the struggles dancers go through every day.  I see the girls I dance with crying in class or in the hallways as we hug them.  I see them fall on their faces.  I see them fall apart as a muscle or tendon swells to three times it's size.  I see them cry for each other.  I see them dance until they can't breathe, work until they overheat.  I see them come in and many days say, "I don't want to do this," then give everything they have to their teacher.

But I also see them get back up.  Come back.  Go back to class still crying.  Dance through the pain.  Push their leg an inch higher than the highest leg in class, no matter how much it hurts.  Put pointe shoes on bleeding feet.  Pull it together.  Wince and push through it.  Rehearse for several hours.  Keep dancing.

Because a true dancer knows that they can never stop dancing.


Other posts related to dancing you might enjoy:

Beautiful Feet
Dance Shoes
What's in my dance bag?
The History of American Ballet Performances
Ballet Shoes