I had been dancing in competitions since I was 9 years old. Year after year, I competed six to ten dances, received awards, and listened to critiques. I even had a run in with the famous girls from "Dance Moms." I was in the studio every night of the week for ten years. After I graduated, I joined a student-run dance group in college. While spending a year outside of the competition dance world, I learned a few lessons.
1. Dance friends are forever.
You spent almost every day of your lives together, so when you went your separate ways, it was sad. You continue to reconnect with them every time you come home. Dance friends continue to be your cheerleaders no matter how far you go.
2. You can tell the difference between a ballet trained dancer and a competition team dancer.
In a college dance group, there is a mix of different dance backgrounds. I never knew that you would be able to tell if they grew up in a competition studio or a ballet studio, but you definitely can. Ask a ballet dancer to do a competition walk. You don't realize how different your training really was until you are all placed together.
3. Dancing for you is way more fun.
When the pressures of competition go away, dance is a lot more fun. You are able to dance for you and not worry about letting anyone down. You are dancing for you because you think it is fun. Not for anyone else.
4. Your dance teachers gave you an awesome foundation.
Whether it was in life lessons or dance, they did a great job of giving you a foundation to build upon when you went to college. Teaching discipline, giving opportunities for experience and providing advice in different situations was not in their job description, but they did it anyway.
5. Life is more important.
Dance is life, but it is not your whole life. I chose dance over a lot of different things during high school. I never did the musicals and I never went to anything after school until I could drive myself. Now I realize that I should have chosen to do some of these instead of going to dance sometimes. Life is more important and you can't get any of these events back.
6. When you bring a group of dancers with different backgrounds together, the creativity is inspiring.
During my first semester, I was in awe at the amount of creativity among the groups of students. Even though there was a choreographer, everyone had moments to add ideas to make something work. The collaboration yields beautiful results.
7. Awards are exciting, but they mean nothing.
No one cares if you were first place overall high scoring trio. It is an exciting thing at the time, but it does not speak for who you are as a dancer. Who you are as a dancer is the passion and hard work you put in during a period of time. The people you dance with now only care about what you bring to the table, not the awards you won in the past.
8. Everyone has a different name for different dance moves.
You learn a lot from different people that come from different dance backgrounds. What was once a ring jump is now an emotion jump. Pancake hands, flexed hands, flat hands, hands by your side all mean the same thing. Flap and slap are the same tap step.
9. You are more talented than you think.
The competition world points out a lot of what you are doing wrong and not too much about what you are doing right. Don't get me wrong, you do get the occasional compliment, but there is a lot more criticism. When people come from all over, you realize how far you have actually come as a dancer.
