Even if you continue to dance in college, it is so different from dancing at your studio. There are some things that will just never match up to the experiences you had. For those of you who didn't have the pleasure to dance, here is what we miss the most.
Chances are we aren't dancing for hours on end every night a week like we used to. And that's something we actually miss. We may have thought we saw more of our studios than our own homes, but the time in front of the mirrors was spent learning, building friendships, growing ourselves and having a good time. Sure, this still happens with our dance teams away at school, but it can never replace the studios we grew up in.
Once we’re past our high school days, dance costumes are not what they used to be. Some of them were definitely very ugly, itchy, unflattering, and we dreaded putting them on. But other ones were so pretty, we fell in love with them the second we saw them on the page. They were glittery, altogether perfect, and you wish you had a reason to wear them one more time.
For those of us who competed weekend after weekend, missing parties and sleepovers and whatever else, we also know what we gained at those convention centers and auditoriums. Competition weekends were spent bonding with our teammates and celebrating each other's victories. Heading into the audience to support our team and then back to the waiting area to do homework and goof off. Even though we missed so much while we were at competitions, we look back on our weekends spent at them and miss it all. Sometimes accompanying these competitions and performances were weekends away with our teammates and friends. Maybe this meant getting your hair done by the pool or cramming everyone onto the beds in one hotel room.
And finally what we miss the most about dance once we’ve made it past our days at studios is the recitals. The one day you’ve worked all year for. All the quick changes and backstage chaos is something you tell yourself you’ll never miss. But once you’re not doing it anymore, you really do.
