Ever since the young age of three, I have been enjoying the art that is dancing. Dance has been my life for the past 17 years and I can't imagine having it any other way. Dance has provided me with so many amazing opportunities and has shaped me into the human being I am today. I have made many friends throughout my many years of dancing, and have had the wonderful opportunity to consider some of them as family.
I grew up dancing at a dance studio where winning was everything. We spent hours upon hours in rehearsal trying to perfect every little piece of our routines so that they judges could see how talented we really were. We practiced long hours and I missed out on a ton of activities all throughout high school. Even though, there were times when I wanted to hang out with my friends from school, I knew that dance was so important to me that it would all pay off in the long run. Those two and a half minute performances were always worth it in the end. Dance consumed me, and I'm sure that any other former dancer would agree that it consumed them as well.
As high school begins to come to a close, all of us dancers start to think about the horrible truth that this may be the last time we ever get to dance and enjoy our passion in front of an audience. The feeling that you are being torn away from your second home is agonizing and going off to college starts to seem as if it isn't going to be as fun as we had hoped. All of this was very true, until I made the best decision of my life and tried out for my college's dance team.
Dance team is like a completely different world from studio dancing. Studio dancing is more laid back and allows for more creative thought, whereas team is like dance military. Say adios to everything you have been taught and say hello to learning all about how important it is that everybody's left arm is at the exact same level on count 6. Sound scary? Believe me; at first, it was. I was doing things that my former dance teacher had told me was wrong and was confused as to why even contemporary had to appear so sharp. Dance team was a completely different world for me and I watched as I began to love it.
Being on a dance team has taught me so many amazing things that I am able to apply to my everyday life. Being a part of a dance team, teaches you that it is no longer about the individual. Dance team is all about the group as a whole. Win or lose, we do it together. I have never felt more closer to a group of girls in my life and I have loved every second of it. My team is my family. To be a successful team, you have to be so close that you all bring out the best in one another. Corrections go from just being an improvement for yourself, to being an improvement for the entire team. Dance team is about working together to deliver the best performance for the crowd.
Dance team is more intense than studio dancing. When you are competing with your studio, there are so many possible awards that you could win and the competition is fierce, but not when it's compared to team. UDA Nationals is possibly the most intense competition I have ever stepped foot into. Teams from D1 schools are all competing for the exact same thing that you are. UDA Nationals is the real deal. Maybe at your other competitions, you have five or six dances that you had worked to perform. At UDA Nationals, you really only have one, maybe two, dances that you have been working so hard to perfect. Your team, as well as all the others along with you, have been putting in countless hours of preparation for those two minutes on stage. Dance Team is no joke.
If you are nearing the end of your high school dance career, I urge you to step outside of your comfort zone and try out for dance team. These past three years have been the best of my life on the team, and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I have had my fair share of mistakes along the way, and I'm so beyond blessed that my team had my back the entire time. The team I am on is my family and they will always be my very best friends. I can't imagine going through college without such a great group of girls by my side. Win or lose, we are a family.
