“Dance enables you to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time.”
I stumbled upon this quote not too long ago and the first word that came instantly to me was “beauty.” Lately, I’ve gotten into the practice of contemporary dancing, and all I can say is wow. What have I been missing out on? It’s common for us to have an appreciation for the types of arts out there such as singing, acting, painting a pretty picture and even dancing itself. Although often times, we tend to think that dancing is primarily all about a hip-hop choreography or a Hispanic ‘salsa’ (which are both amazing and culturally diverse types of dances).
But really, there is so much bliss that comes from watching ballet, modern, lyrical and classical dancing all merge into one. British singer-songwriter sensation Ed Sheeran can give us a testimony of that after learning how to dance unlike never before solely for his music video, "Thinking Out Loud." Luckily, his video gave me six reasons why I’ve now grown to love and appreciate contemporary and ballroom dancing as well. Here are just a few ways you can find beauty within a dance such as this one.
1. The way two human beings can connect with one another and essentially become one.
Pure grace and elegance. It's not all about physical closeness and intimacy, but a pure, emotional connection. This is what really sells the whole package. As one talks to his or her partner, they listen. And vise-verse. It's a transactional type of deal. They feed off of one another. This is when the awestruck type of feeling comes to the person whose watching and soaking it all in.
2. The way dancers speak through movement.
Just as much as passion is thrown into this type of dancing, so is speaking. Yes, the lyrics to a song tell a story, but essentially, the dancers are the ones who are in charge of bringing that story to life. Through expression, intimacy and the art of being emotionally connected with one another, soon enough, the movement starts to speak for itself.
3. The raw emotions that are showcased.
The majority of the times, I’ve heard many dancers say, "It starts off with acting, but once you start moving, every inch of your soul is suddenly being left on the dance floor."
4. The beauty in seeing the dancer(s) pouring out vulnerability and humility.
It is truly like love. These are the types of qualities that give the choreography so much life. A story is being told and if 110 percent of your energy is not being put into every step that is being taken, then the petals of the beautiful flower begin to slowly fall off. Vulnerability and humility are qualities that are needed. Dancers keep their head up, but at the same time, they never forget to bring them down when the time is right, too.
5. The tremendous amount of practice that you can obviously see contemporary dancers put into their work.
Practice, persistence and perseverance matched up with talent. It never fails.
6. The flips and the turns.
OK, who on earth would really leave this off the list? Flips and turns are just overall impressive on their own. Falling and catching, the art of trusting another person to grasp you while you're in the middle of just flying magically in the air -- it's all very nerve-wracking, but at the very same time, there's faith, there's reliance and ultimately, there's some sort of conviction that your partner won't let you die, too.
There's actual living proof of that in the form of a video, as well. Take a fall at it:
