Love of Dance

Ballet, Salsa, Hip-Hop, Ballroom, Modern, Jazz, Funk, Tap, Belly, Tango, Rumba, Street, Break, Swing, Line, Samba, Jive, Contra and Bollywood - these are just a few of the many types of styles that fall under the term 'dance'.

Dancing is a creative form of self expression. Whether it's graceful ballet, a passionate Rumba dance, sexy Salsa steps or slick hip-hop moves, every form of dancing has a unique style and very often a story behind it. To dance isn't to simply tap your feet and nod your head to the beat of music playing in the background. Dancing is about surrendering yourself to the music, forgetting about where you are,  and forgetting who you are. It's almost as though you're putting on another persona and escaping into another time and place altogether.

I love dancing, it's in my blood and I can't imagine living without it. I've been dancing since I was five years old when I was introduced to the world of ballet. Watching Black Swan brought back so many memories of that time. The world of ballet is not all as pretty and graceful as it looks. It's tough, and it takes serious commitment, determination and a thick skin to get to the top. Eight years of hair gel, leotards, pirouettes and concerts and I decided it was time for a change. I was sadly no where near dedicated enough, and I got bored of the classical music - I wanted something more.  Modern dancing provided that. The music had a beat to it and the steps were a little more energetic and fun. Still, I wanted a form of dancing that really made me sweat - the type I'd seen in dance movies. Some of the girls in the class I was in made things extremely unpleasant and all too clear at the same time.  At that stage in my life dancing become tedious and I dreaded going to class. I stopped dancing for a few years until I began to miss it so much that I literally ached when I watched dance movies. Finally, I discovered hip-hop dancing. Out of all the dancing I've done, this one is the most expressive. I loved the class for the simple reason that it worked up a sweat. It was energetic and fun, and we had an amazing instructor. It also brought out another side of me.

In dancing, there's no place for being shy on the dance floor - you're forced to bring out your alter ego. It can be a darker alter ego, like the one Natalie Portman portrays in Black Swan, it can be a sexy alter ego - like the main character in Centre Stage, or it can simply be your own alter ego that's been hidden and is looking for a place to express itself.

The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie. - Agnes de Mille