1. Respect
You not only learn to respect your instructors, but also to respect yourself, your fellow dancers, and the studio as a whole from a young age.
2. Discipline
When a dance instructor says it’s time to begin class, there is no arguing or goofing around. You learn pretty quickly the consequences for not paying attention in class (spoiler alert: they're not fun).
3. Time management
Balancing twenty weekly hours in the studio with your school hours, homework, the other clubs you're involved in, eating and sleeping gets you pretty acclimated to being busy, while still getting everything done in a timely manner.
4. How to take constructive criticism
In dance, an instructor critiquing your dancing is a compliment, as it means that your talent is worth their criticism (the alternative is them ignoring you completely). You know how to receive constructive criticism with the utmost of grace.
5. Work ethic
Even if it looks effortless on stage, trust me, it's not. An extreme amount of work went into that seemingly easy turn sequence, lift, or leap.
6. Artistry
Dancing is not only about completing a series of steps, it's about performing them.
7. No pain, no gain
Stretching and strengthening your muscles hurts, there's no way around it. Don't even get me started on the splits.
8. Hair and makeup
When you've been wearing stage hair and makeup since you were three, you tend to know a lot more than your fellow middle schoolers when you actually start to try different styles with your hair and wear everyday makeup.
9. Teamwork
The amount of time you spend with your peers at the studio creates an unbreakable bond. You definitely learn how to get along with many different types of people and how to work together towards the same goal: creating something great onstage.
10. Injury prevention
Growing up as a dancer, you learn a lot about anatomy and how your body works. You use (and expand upon) this knowledge as you get older to make sure that you can continue dancing for as long as possible.
11. Getting changed quickly
Quick changes are a way of life when you dance. I can literally change outfits anytime, anywhere, in about a minute flat.
12. “Can’t” is basically a curse word
If somebody said a swear word in a class in middle school, the whole room would erupt in a chorus of “Oh” and “You're in trouble.” That same thing happened in the studio when anyone dared to utter the words “I can't.” One of our teachers even threatened to charge us for every time we said "C-a-n-'-t."
13. Leading by example
We were told that the best way to lead in a dance class was to work hard on our own dancing and to focus on behaving the way we knew we should. Learning that skill has definitely payed off for me in the long run.
14. Stretching
Dancers always know the perfect stretch to alleviate a certain kind of pain, or simply to take care of their bodies in general.
15. Being open
Being taught by a number of different dance teachers in a number of different disciplines, all with at least slightly differing styles, has definitely made me more open and ready for anything in my life.
16. Poise
If your hairpiece falls out mid-routine, you can't even think about panicking. Dancers have to learn how to deal with stressful situations with a smile on their face, literally.
17. Good sportsmanship
At dance competitions, you are told from a young age to clap for everyone, even if their dance has won over yours. You learn to lose with grace and dignity. After all, you’re probably not going to win first overall at every competition.
18. Class
My dance teachers always taught us to act in a way that would positively reflect on the studio, even when we were at events that were separate from our dance lives. You never know who is going to be around at public events and recognize you from the organizations you're involved with. We were always expected to keep that in mind in regards to our public behavior and decision-making.
