Why Dance Classes Are My Religion

Dance classes

Magic happens when you find the right studio and instructor.

Some people go to church, some people go to the temple. Well I go for dance classes. It’s my place of worship. It’s a commitment I make to the God of Dance, and one that no amount of laziness, social coffee outings or unnecessary work can stop me from putting on my sneakers and showing up for class.

My dance instructors are my Gods and Deities. Each teach me a different kind of wisdom, preach the lessons of being a better disciple and effect positive change within their dance denomination. Every week I pay tribute to them and they in turn teach me a new facet on the dance of life.

People go to places of worship to ask for help, to find spiritual awakening and to be better human beings. Well I get all these from the Religion of Dance. On top of that I get a great body. What more could I ask from a religion?

Dance as my religion has helped me in life plenty. Let me lock-step it down for you.

Problems Tango Away

No matter how big the problem, no matter how dour the day, dance classes can loosen the grip of stress and leave you with a significantly happier frame of mind. It's magic I see happen all the time. I suppose any form of physical activity will leave your mind feeling better, but dance has been my choice. On more than one occasion, I've come to dance feeling a little pessimistic from the drudgery of a conflict. I'm a thinker and often let a thought barnacle itself to my little head. My world then becomes so small.

But dance classes are the perfect therapy. You hear your instructor's voice, you're juxtaposed to a different vibe and you lose yourself to the music. After a one-hour class, the problem has shrunk like an unwanted tumour and you're feeling 100% better.

Problems don't have a hold on dance. They don't stand a chance.

Solutions Come Poppin

Beyond just feeling better, it's an unthinking mind that allows the best ideas to proliferate. But how can solutions POP when your mind is fixated with worry? Hold up! Amid the body rolls, pointing and Roger Rabbiting, a sliver of light enters the mind fog and new perspectives start emerging. It's only when the mind is clear, that the best solutions and ideas come hip hopping. Dance is an enabler.

If your boss is mad at you, you’ll walk out of dance class seeing it in the way it’s supposed to be. That it’s really not that big a deal. And then you decide with 300% better clarity on your next course of action. If you sent a dumb text to a dumb boy, you'll see that it was a dumb situation and there's no need to replay it. Get over it girl.

That constant state-of-dance will bestow you a higher quality mind, one that's detoxed from a lot of junk.

I Step-Up as a Person

I’m committed to my religion and I unfailingly go and come out enlightened :)

Because dance and its dynamics are so different from my daily life of work and friends, it’s a perspective that adds way more balance to a supposedly balanced life. Life is often made of similar categories. Dance, being my different category, enhances all the other facets of my life.

Dance makes me a better person, a better writer, makes me way more confident and tests out areas of me that I don’t test out in my regular life.

Living with weekly eights, choreos and formations teaches you timing, detail, attitude and a lot of Look-At-Me. My positive state makes me attack my writing with vigour. My friends are drawn to me for all the light I emanate. My clients are amused that I have to rush off from meetings to go for dance class. My dance body gives me a lot of confidence. My pseudo performances in class and any recitals keep me excited and terrified. I have an outlet to make-believe I'm Britney Spears. If anything, life's a series of fun adventures :)

You Kill Being Self Conscious

The first time I walked into my current studio, I was horrified when I discovered they videod students every week. “What?” I guffawed. "You're going to video me in all my mistake and lame glory?" My instructor seemed unperturbed by my fear. I wanted to bury myself six feet under. Fast forward 2 years later, I’ve become immune to that pain. I’m much less self- conscious and on occasion, I actually enjoy the videoing when the choreography agrees with me hehe.

During a holiday dance class in Moscow, a friendly boy egged me to go on the dancefloor. "Hell no," I said. He was taken aback by my vehemence. "Doesn’t matter if you do it wrong. Just make it up then," he replied. He was so matter-of-fact and serene about it that there and then, I got a lesson in life. I realised then, that I was wound up like a guitar string and overly self-conscious about mistakes. Tensed and about to break each time I went for class.

How was I ever going to enjoy choreography and music if I were like a guitar string? Equally, I'm tensed about too many things - giving a presentation, waiting for a project outcome, having a bad conversation. I’ve changed my state of mind plenty. It has loosened me up plenty and I have the ability now to laugh off a bad routine and an uneventful conversation. In the past, I would be obsessing over it. Now I really just relegate it to the past and live in the moment.

You Hit Tangible Improvement That Drop Real Happiness

One time, I sent my brother a video and he being the sweet sensitive person that he was, said something to the effect of how it needed work. A year later, I sent him another video and he said "Wow you've really improved." I never realised it. But again, it made me see the power of practice and how this simple and very timeless message is quite simply one of the truths to discovering your authentic self.

What is happiness? Happiness is progress in life. This is one form of happiness that greatly impacts my life. Weekly!

There's always something to strive for in dance classes. Unlike the world of business and personal development where weak spots can be more intangible and vague, it's always tangibly clear where you're weak in dance. You can't do this new move, you have to practice the hell out of it.

When a movement that was once difficult suddenly becomes easier, you actually get an epiphany about the power of practice. And this pushes me to perfect other areas of my life.

You Break Fear. You Develop Courage

After our Christmas recital last year, I fell ill with a 9-day flu that wouldn't go away. Simply, I had stressed myself like a mad person over all the routines. My fear is unique to being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP); our antennas are just so sensitive and we pick up everything. Perhaps that's why many of my dance friends and instructors don't understand why I’m constantly stressed in class. Dance being an extrovert sport really has no time for shyness. People who dance shouldn't be shy. But here is one! Me!

I've really pushed myself beyond my comfort zone by doing things that scare me. A recital may not a big deal to a dancer, but it's a very big deal for a closet introvert like me.

When you do something uncomfortable repeatedly, you develop strong muscle courage. Dance classes are lessons in courage because they make me confront fear. As a result, I'm braver.

If there's anything I can say about myself, it's that I'm a girl with a lot of courage. And now that's it's been honed further, I'm unstoppable!

If anything in my life goals scare me, I actually use my dance metaphors to embolden myself. If I can do that, what's seeing a new client? Nope nothing scares me very much anymore.

Dance Disclaimer:

I am no dance expert but I have an opinion too.

You cannot be free if you don't discover your dance voice. Solutions won't come if you're stuck doing choreography that don't speak to you.

Believe that dance belongs to you. Dance belongs to no one and everyone. It doesn't belong more to the stuckup dancer who thinks he's the coolest thing since froyo than it does to you. Dance for yourself and for what you want it to be for you. If dance is stressing you out, maybe you’re in the wrong studio or environment. If you're having problems enjoying routines, maybe you’re in the wrong genre.

Let dance be freeing first.

The more you dance, the better you become. The more lithe your body, the more confidence you gain. You’re becoming a better person as you’re working on your dance.

Hallelujah to dance classes! Glory be to this glorious art form.

This is my religion.

This article was written in 2016.