“What does partner dancing do for you?”
Ask a room full of dancers that question and you’ll get almost as many different answers as there are dancers in the room. Some answers may be very general, others more specific to personal experience.
Some responses to the question have been:
- For exercise
- As a hobby
- Because of a Significant other
- To meet people
- For emotional healing
- To return to something s/he did as a child
- For stress relief
- Because it makes him/her happy
- Why not?
- As a dare
- His/her own personal bucket list
For the dancers who devote time to dancing, invest in improving their skills, and find the joy in exploring it, partner dancing is an essential element in who they are. They have found growth in some way shape or form through dancing.
For 2011, I made a deal with myself to live my life with these three words as guides: honest, focus, pro-active (See the article “Your Three Words For The New Year“)
Have I fulfilled my mission in keeping true to these guide words? For the most part yes. Using these words have helped me to be much more cognizant of the way I wish to live my life day to day, mistakes and all. In the dance realm, I most certainly have followed them. Because of that, I have found an exponential growth in the quality of my dancing. This change has given me both a stronger sense of self confidence and joy in dancing.
This year, I have chosen three new words:
- Explore
- Dare
- Share
Go out there and dance. If you’ve never tried it, go out and find a class nearby, whether its at your nearest gym, college, neighbor, or dance studio. But don’t just dance. Dance with a purpose, a mission. Decide what you want dance to do for you, and follow what steps you need to take to make that mission a success.
Through this drive, you will a find growth not just in your dancing, but in yourself as a person. There are very few activities that reflect so strongly the inner workings of a person – or that can affect those same inner workings. That’s the beauty of dancing.
Happy Dancing!
