Whether you did jazz, tap, ballet, or Irish, dance is permanently in your blood. When you decided to take off your shoes for good, your aching joints rejoiced, but your heart sang a sad song that it still sings to this day.
1. The aches in your legs after long practices.
This sounds crazy to non-dancers, but that burn in your legs after a nine-hour dance class just proves how hard you have been working.
2. Your flexibility.
You were once capable of doing splits, touching your toes and putting your legs behind your head. Today, all you can do is eat a banana split while trying to touch your calves.
3. The late nights with your friends.
You were all sweaty, bloody, whiny messes, but you were a little family aching to go home after a long dance class before a major competition. These were the nights where you played pranks and competed against each other in order to determine who could go home first.
4. Showing off your First-Aid abilities to the younger dance generations.
"Can you help me put my toenail back on my foot?" As a little kid struggled with wrapping her ankle or blister-blocking his heel, you were proud to come forth with the knowledge of salvaging their poor young feet.
5. Learning new techniques.
Every form of dance has their hardest techniques, and when your teacher finally decides that it is time for you to learn it, you jump up and down enthusiastically before settling down and standing beside him in front of the mirror, eager to copy everything he does.
6. The feeling of acing a new step that took you ages to learn.
Three weeks later and you finally got that tricky set piece that was driving you insane, but acing it to music in front of your dance teacher is the most rewarding feeling in the world.
7. Late night practices.
Who really wants to be at dance class on a Friday night as a teenager from five until two? It was a pain in the butt, literally and figuratively, but it was worth it because those long dance classes are what made you the incredible dancer you still are today.
8. Your muscles.
Sure, you still have some of your muscles, but you miss your abs and your more toned legs more than anything...especially during bikini season.
9. Your teacher yelling at you.
"Higher!" "Faster!" "Stronger!" "Pick it up!" It might sound masochistic, but being yelled at to do better actually worked.
10. The drama.
This one might still be in your life as a retired dancer (since we all check the message boards years after hanging up our shoes to check the latest gossip), but there is something about chatting about it all at midnight with your friends in the studio that makes the gossip even juicier.
11. The feeling of winning.
There is no better feeling than standing on the top of that podium after a long day and holding up your award for the world to see.
12. The costumes.
Sure, they weren't the sexiest, comfiest, or least painful things in the world, but putting on that dress made you feel beautiful and confident as your stepped out onto that stage to show the world what you are capable of.
13. Being in shape.
Being in shape and having muscles are different. Yeah, you might still have your insanely big calf muscles, but you still run out of breath climbing half of a flight of stairs.
Whether you danced for three months or twenty years, if you're a dancer once, you'll always be a dancer. The dancing family will always be there to welcome you home.
