Being a dance major at the University of Alabama is unique, especially since we have such a small community. We hardly see anyone else outside of the department. I typically don’t leave campus each day until around 10:00 p.m., even if I got there at 9:00 a.m. Rehearsals take over, our dance classes are performance-based, a lot of us are double majors and yes, we do have academic dance classes where we actually need to take notes.
A degree in dance is a hard and serious one, unlike what some people may think. People’s responses to us are far and wide, but here are the most common ones:
1. “So you want to be a dance teacher, right?”
2. "OK, so what's your other major?"
3. "Can you do the splits?"
4. "That's cool, so what's your backup plan?"
5. "Teach me some ballet."
6. "So, like, are you going to be a stripper or something?"
7. "Oh, I used to watch 'Dance Moms'!"
8. "I didn't even know that was a thing..."
9. "Oh, so Broadway!"
10. "Why would you do that when you could be going to school for a real career?"
11. "Do you have to read for that or do you just dance around and get A's?"
12. “Omg, you’re so lucky, no homework!”
13. “You got a full ride… and chose THAT?”
14. “How do you even grade dancing?”
15. “Will you dance for me?” (Yes, boys, calling you out on this one.)
16. “Do a spin!”
17. “You must be fun at parties.”
18. “I’m sure your parents aren’t too happy with that…”
19. “Oh, so you can twerk?!”
20. “Oh… wow.”
21.“Oh, cool, so dance team!” (Some of us are on dance team, but not all!)
22. "Better find a rich husband..."
I think it’s safe to say that we’re under some pretty interesting assumptions. Most boys (keyword: boy) think we just want to twerk it out. People that aren’t in our department usually don’t take us seriously. That sometimes, unfortunately, includes our parents and family. We may want to dance on a stage, but that doesn’t always mean we’re the life of the party!
Most of these responses are innocent attempts to make conversation, but sometimes we just get tired of hearing them. I wonder what music majors are tired of hearing…