Learning to Have Fun as a Dancer

Photo of author by Gary Flashner

Dance is often referred to as an art/sport because of the athleticism required to produce beautiful and inspiring performances. Dance is a full-body workout, no question there. It’s also a mental and emotional workout as we try to remember all of the choreography and technique required to move our bodies in beautiful ways while also adding on style and expression that will connect us with our audience. I’m a little tired just thinking about it.

The sport half of dance always came easier to me. It was more black-and-white and scientific. Technique had rights and wrongs. I could muscle my way through the movement, which made me feel strong instead of vulnerable. When teachers started talking about arm styling and suggesting I do what feels right, I balked. What felt right to me was doing nothing with my arms, but that’s not what they were trying to get me to do. They wanted me to feel the right way to launch my arm over my head or out to the side in a way that looked graceful and effortless, or in the case of tango, strong and confident.

I hated not having the correct answer to arm styling. It was all about feeling out what was right for me and my body, a total gray area that I had to navigate in order to become the dancer I dreamed of becoming. I had anxiety every time I was told we were going to work on arm styling, even a couple panic attacks during…