The original joy of dance. Think back. The delight of responding to music as a child. The first time you really lost yourself inside a song. The feeling of such uninhibited, unencumbered joy that you experienced “flow”, where the whole outside world and your troubles just faded away. Whether you grew up taking dance classes, or discovered dance later in life, as dancers we find ourselves in the same place- alive with dance and wanting as much of it in our lives as possible. If only it were so simple, where the act of dancing itself was enough. If only we could forever remember the miracle and blessing of dance, and dance from a place of deep gratitude. But once a dancer takes on the learning of technique and the pursuit of improvement, so many factors can come into play that make the term “blood, sweat, and tears” a formidable reality. The countless hours of class and rehearsal, pushing towards growth, and meeting up against the physical challenges of the body. The tempering of excitement and joy with impatience, insecurity, comparison, and doubt. Self-rejection and fear. Dance will not only light you up with total joy; it will also hold a mirror right up to the places inside you where you didn’t even know you needed to heal. It is the activity of the mind that separates us from the joy of dance. While the mind plays a vital role in learning, it can go into overdrive and lock us into a negative thought pattern. The mind tends towards the negative- towards worrying, comparing, analyzing, and judging. Many spiritual or psychological traditions have identified this voice of the mind, with names like “Maya”, “The Critic”, or “Ego”. Either way you name it, it’s the voice inside your head that will tell you that you are not good enough. Not worthy. That you are too this, too that, etc. One can come to believe their thoughts as true, instead of realizing it’s just the mental activity of the mind. When we are not aware of our thoughts we mistakenly identify them as reality. This sense then emerges where we feel separate from dance when we don’t dance as well as we’d like. When in actuality, dance is always right there, waiting for us to enjoy it. When this type of mental activity is constant, it can really take the joy of dance away. What you think and how you feel determines what you see. If in your thoughts you are constantly putting your dancing down, chances are you will not enjoy dance as much. Mistakenly, many come to believe that the joy of dance is in the attainment of perfection but the truth is that the joy of dance is right here, right now, in this moment. The joy is always there, waiting for you to access it. There is always room for growth, especially in dance. It is important to work hard, practice, and train if you are to reach your goals. Regardless of what your goals may be in dance however, it is important to remember that you first came to dance because you loved it. On your dance journey, remember to nourish your love for dance. Allow for mistakes, and imperfection. Remember to play. Have fun. Remember that the challenges and the obstacles as merely steps along the way, part of the process. As Souza writes, “Happiness is a journey, not a destination”. In your very essence you are enough. You are dance, as your heart beats, blood flows through your veins and your lungs breathe air . It can be a really hard thing to grasp-that we are connected to dance at our core- especially if we are trying to understand with the mind. But that is the challenge- for we cannot dance with our minds. We must dance from the heart. What is dance if it does not come from the heart? We must free ourselves from identification with thought. We must come home to the love and joy that we are. Nothing helps us to embody this love and joy more than dance. It is a gift.
Kim Torrence