Between the countless hours that you have spent in the studio leading up to recitals, sewing costumes and practicing your recital makeup, these are the seven signs that you are a dancer.
1. Everything cracks.
Every dancer could relate to the daily routine of waking up in the morning and every bone in your body cracks. Literally everything. Even if you bend down to pick up something off the floor or adjust your body after being in the same spot for awhile, immediately there's a crack. But, hey, that just means that you are one flexible individual. It's pretty unique, in my opinion, if you could tell someone that your body twists like this picture.
2. Choreography 24/7.
No matter where you are, whether on your bed listening to music or jamming as you drive down a deserted road, you are constantly creating choreography in your head to the latest number one song and you even sometimes end up performing it (only when you are alone, of course). You are never one to just listen to music. Songs in a dancer's brain are constantly split into eight counts and it is simply something that every dancer does.
3. Tap Dancing on tile floors.
This is every dancer's guilty pleasure. You simply can't resist the temptation when one is sitting in a classroom that has tiled floor. And, if you have shoes on with somewhat of a heel? Forget about it. Your neighbor in the classroom is going to have a performance of you doing a combination of cramp rolls, maxie fords and flaps.
4. Dances over the years are never forgotten.
It doesn't matter if you danced to "Shirley Temple" when you were four, "Oh What a Night" when you were ten or "Born This Way" when you were eighteen because I guarantee every dancer remembers at least some of the choreography from every recital. Nothing is more exciting than hearing a song that you danced to randomly on the radio. It brings back exceptional memories.
5. Costumes on costumes.
My artistic director at my dance studio always had a keen eye for selecting exceptional dance costumes. Every costume for every dance had just the right amount of sparkle of sequins to it allowing every dancer to shine on the stage. Costumes were never an occasion where we would purchase clothing at stores such as basic shirts or leggings like other studios. I truly enjoyed that costumes were specially ordered from dance wear and performance companies because they were exclusive costumes. I couldn't wait to wear them on Halloween night when I was younger because I wouldn't have to worry about other classmates having identical costumes as myself.
6. Mastering quick changes.
If you truly love to dance, then you are in every style that is offered at your studio. This no big deal when you have classes right after another and you only have to wear the standard black leotard, pink tights, and black skirt. However, it can be distressing when it's recital season and those eight classes that you took become eight dances with eight different costumes, headpieces, tights and shoes, in which you only have two dances equalling to about five minutes to change on the side of the stage. But, because of this, you have trained yourself into an individual that could change quickly no matter what the circumstance is.
7. Friendships that last a lifetime.
The friendships that you have developed over the years are bonds that will never be broken. Although you may part your separate ways when you venture off to college away from your studio, your passion for dancing is something that you all will forever share. I am proud to say that I have developed close friendships with girls that I have been dancing with since the age of four.
