Throughout high school I danced with a core group of about 12 dancers. We took every class, performed everywhere and enjoyed every minute of studio time.
Of that group – guess how many went on to study dance after high school? 5
And of those 5 how many are still involved in dance? 4
Crazy right – 25% still pursuing what we all had a passion for. What happened to the others? They now work as lawyers, journalists, hotel managers, environmental scientists, in insurance and in education. Think their parents’ money was wasted? Not in the least.
Dance taught us to persevere when things were hard, and I believe all of us graduated from college no matter what the challenges. Dance taught us time management, managing homework with classes, extra curricular activities and jobs was not easy but we pulled it off. Dance taught us to appreciate the beauty of the art and how hard the professionals in any field work to make it look effortless. We set goals and achieved them, then pushed ourselves higher. We found flexibility not only in our bodies but in life as well, as we all know choreography doesn’t always work out how we planned it and neither does life. We were taught the joy of using our talents to give back to others. And the list goes on.
These classes are teaching more than just steps. We are building lasting relationships and life skills that will carry through no matter where life takes us.
As a final thought – I have never talked to anyone who regretted their dance classes and what they got out of them.
