If you have ever been a dancer, you will definitely understand where I’m coming from when I say these little habits and experiences are drilled into your everyday life without you even realizing it.
1. When working out while listening to music, you can’t start a new exercise or set until beat one. No matter what.
There’s no way you could start on any other beat other than one. Whether it be a new set or new exercise, you will stall and awkwardly wait at all costs because it’s just plain drilled into your brain.
2. “1,2,3.. Go!” does not exist. Don’t you mean “5 ,6,7, 8” ?
It grinds my gears every time someone says “1, 2, 3,” to count me off for something. That’s not in our vocabulary as dancers. Everyone seems to be in tune as to when to go after someone says “3,” but we always go too late or too early because the only timing we understand “5,6,7,8.”
3. “I did a dance to this song!!”
You know how most people say “It’s my song!” or “This is my jam!” Sorry, dancers don’t relate. Our “songs” are the ones that we had to listen to over and over…. And over again and to this day, we are still doing the dance in our heads every time we hear it. If you’re lucky, we’ll even perform it for you at the club or at the party we're at.
4. When people sickle their feet, it is impossible to control your gag reflex.
For some reasons, athletes seem to sickle their feet often and every single time I see it, I could throw up on the spot. Just how most people don’t understand how we can touch the floor, we don’t understand how you could do that to your poor feet.
5. Speaking of feet… Yes we know, our feet are always pointed.
We have had it drilled in our bodies for so long, it is impossible not to point our toes. Our feet aren’t “gross”, they’re pointed. Get over it.
6. You have been asked if you can do the splits almost every single time you tell someone you’re a dancer.
Is that all you think we do? There is so much more to dance then doing the splits. Actually, it’s rare for the splits to even be part of anything else rather than stretching. So yes, we can probably do the splits and no, I’m not going to show you.
7. The oddest parts of your body crack.
Remember that one time you rolled your ankle the wrong way and now your ankle cracks every time you circle it around? Do you twist around in class to crack your back and every one is staring at you with wide eyes? Yeah, sorry everyone, it’s a dancer thing, but it just feels so good.
8. It’s impossible to sit in a “normal” position.
Legs open, practically in the splits, butterfly position, frog splits, leg stretch, you name it. Criss cross applesauce just doesn’t cut it. The looks you get never get old, but oh well, we’re comfortable.
9. When you’re in the car, and a song comes on, you’re marking choreography with your hands.
I mentioned earlier the “I did a dance to this song.” Well yeah, but if you’re in the car, you can’t break out and do it right there. So you learn to mark it with your hands, which tends to make your friends think you’re a bit of a weirdo.
10. You undeniably long to be back “in the studio.”
You don’t even have to want to dance. You just want to be at your dance studio. Your company, team, studio friends, whatever you call it… have become your actual siblings, you’ve probably spent more time in your lifetime at your dance studio than at your actual house, and you don’t know what free time is. So if you’re doing this adult thing I’m attempting, it’s impossible not to want to go “home,” and embrace your life-long friends because you know nothing else more normal than that.
