Dancing Daily
Hello beautiful GLOW community!
My name is Kira - you may have seen me checking you in at the front desk, pouring Larry’s coffee after morning classes, alongside you in CenterStage or at other dance studios in Raleigh! :)
Today I am sharing some thoughts about one of my favorite things on Earth… Dance!!!
When you first hear dance, you may think of “5, 6 ,7 ,8”, turns, jumps, ballerinas, or half-time performances. While those are definitely a part of dance, there are so many other layers that you may not think of - there are parts of dance you do everyday without realizing. Listening, communicating, breathing, challenging yourself, problem solving… It's the steps of dancing that you practice and perform daily.
While training and technique are considered the base of what creates a ‘good’ dancer, it’s everything else that creates a real dancer. If there’s one thing I’ve taken away from all the rehearsals, classes, workshops, and intensives - it’s that being open and being yourself will serve you so much more than being able to do a perfect triple pirouette. Luckily, it’s something you don’t have to wait until getting into your local dance studio to practice!
Let me explain this with some parallels between dance and ‘life’ to show that they really aren’t too different…
“What’s your intention behind...”
💖 Changing your focus to yourself in the mirror? Are you curious? Are you scared? Are you excited?
💖 Greeting fellow passholders? Do you want to help start their day with love? Do you want/need to keep to yourself today? Are you avoiding someone or something? Why?
“Listen and respond to each other…”
💖 When you're dancing in CenterStage and are getting frustrated because you can not get the move, breathe and communicate - there’s an obvious disconnect.
💖 When talking to someone you are trying to understand - avoid listening to respond. Take in what they’re saying, let it digest, and respond intentionally.
“Be open to failure…”
💖 If you never test where something could go, you’ll never grow. If you know you can do a clean single pirouette and never try for a double, you’ll never have a double.
💖 If you never tell them how you feel, there’s 0% chance of anything happening. But if you at least try, it opens so many doors. The least that will happen is they won’t feel the same. And then you carry on with respect knowing you at least tried.
I hope you’re catching the themes I’m trying to explain…
The lessons I’ve learned inside the dance studio are lessons I continue to practice everyday; how to be a more open human, how to listen, my intention behind my words and actions. These are the pieces of dance that we can all rehearse every day, and work on them extra if we decide to hop into a dance class.
Kira, Studio Admin
