“This I Believe”
When I heard in junior year that our class would get to choreograph dances as a unit in Physical Education(PE), I was excited. I mean, why wouldn’t I be? I have loved dance since I started in kindergarten, and my love for it continues to grow with each passing day. Then came the surprise which made all of my excitement come crashing down like a pile of bricks. Everyone - I mean everyone, including the teachers- believed that the gym dance was just a chore. Everyone just wanted to get it over with. Apparently, this gym dance was merely a “lifetime’s-worth-of-shame-and-embarrassment-all-shoved-into-a-three-minutes-dance” on a thin mat in the middle of the gym. Apparently, no lights, no props, and no curtains made an
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Dance is not just an exercise. ; Iit is a performance, a mode of expression, a harmony between art and sport. A true dancer knows the physical and mental fortitude that comes from dance.
Knowing that breaking this long held school tradition would not be easy or happen overnight, I started convincing my team to take the dance seriously. Most of them had bought into the idea that this dance was going to be awkward and humiliating. I challenged this misguided belief. So I asked: What if we showed how exhilarating dance is? What if we showed that dance is not to be taken lightly or as a chore? What if we showed that dance was about expression, having fun, and pushing our limits physically and mentally?
Finally, my group understood. Tasked as the choreographer of the group because of my twelve years of dance experience, I developed demanding routines for my friends which also required them to be in sync with one another. I edited the choreography multiple times so that everyone’s special talents would be showcased effectively throughout the dance. After sacrificing more than 15 hours of my Thanksgiving Break to make sure that everyone was on beat, I felt that we were ready to blow the audience out of the water. I also told my teammates not to worry about the gym mat. I have always thought that a stage can be anywhere: an alcove in the hallway, the front of a classroom, a piece of cardboard on the streets of New York, a wrestling mat on the gym floor. What matters most is the way we hold ourselves on stage - it should scream “look at me”. If one has that, then what need is there for a