So this is the story of how got my break with dance from the very beginning. I wanted to let you, the reader, in on my background with dance from the 8th grade talent show, to high school, and now college. It all started back in elementary school. In 8th grade, there was a talent show at the end of the year and I wanted to do something cool. Dance helped make a name for myself because I was able to do some dancing like the robot and sometimes before class I would be involved with dance battles. I would be at school dances and fantasize about all of the great dances I could perform. Since some of my friends knew I could do the moon walk the decision was made that me, my friends, and all of the 8th grade boys would do the talent show, making a tribute to the late great Michael Jackson.
The song we performed to was "Beat It", because that was the only song by him that we could find a tutorial on at the time. It was an incredible feeling for a first time performance and that was how I got started. However, it was mainly for fun so I didn't see myself dancing after that or taking it as seriously as I do now. Afterwards I took a two year hiatus and I never saw myself dancing again. Around the spring of my sophomore year of high school, I just finished a great run with my high school CYO basketball team going to the final four in the archdiocese. We were hoping to win it all but unfortunately we fell short. I put this piece in because this was when I started thinking about coming back to dance. As I would dance during games and practices.
Anyway, I got back into it in the summer going into junior year because of a dance crew who has been my absolute biggest inspiration for dancing. I've impersonated them from high school to this past April. That dance crew was the Jabbawockeez, because they are just so incredible with their synchronicity and movement as well as the illusion of seeing them as a group. Watching them got me back in to dancing and being serious about it and now it has become a huge part of who I am. After watching all of their videos I decided to impersonate them in the talent shows at my high school for both junior and senior years. I was just so in love after the first performance that I had to continue with it.
In the summer going into junior year I was out in my garage every night rehearsing and trying to get the dances down, that they performed, to the smallest detail. I was so dedicated to learning these dances that it made me want to learn more and add to my knowledge of dance. Most of my dance experience came from YouTube whereas almost everyone in the Dance Ensemble have been dancing for at least 15 years with formal training. When I got to college I knew that if Misericordia had a talent show that I would be in it to continue my dancing expedition. Obviously they do and I continued my Jabbawockeez tour here as well. The first show I was in people didn't know who I was and I was okay with that. It gave me the opportunity to show them who I am and let them know about the Jabbawockeez.
It was last year (freshman year) right after I went on and performed that I wanted to do this one more time and retire the Jabbawockeez and do my own thing. It was such an amazing feeling knowing that I went out the way I did. The talent show my sophomore year was the last time I would perform as the Jabbawockeez and I have 0 regrets. Even though I officially retired the mask after the talent show, my friend Jeff and I decided that I should do one more performance with the mask for dance.
It wasn't until February 24, 2015 around 9 p.m. that I became a member of the Misericordia University Dance Ensemble and I am very happy I joined. At this time I was getting really excited because I have found a club that was about dancing and a family where I could be myself. I was also relieved because I was afraid of the thought that my career as a dancer would have come to an end after the talent show my sophomore year. I wasn't ready to let dance go and I don't think I would've been able to feel the happiness that I do without it. To be continued...