Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Just Dance


Most of you probably know that I teach dance. Jazz, specifically. I teach tap also but my heart has always been in jazz. 

I started out in dance like most little girls. My mom put me in a tap/ballet/tumbling class at five years old. I took it for a year before my mom decided to put me in gymnastics instead. As a rambunctious child, I think she saw that my energy was best expelled in tumbling. I probably liked it more anyway at the time.

When I was seven, I remember my dad coming to me and asking if I wanted to take ballet. I loved dancing around the house and had natural rhythm so I think he thought it would be a good idea to put me in class. I said no.

In high school, I decided that I wanted to dance on danceline. At the time, I thought this was truly the best in dance. I remember seeing the danceline perform in middle school and thinking there was no better thing in the world. With the sequins flying, metallic pom poms shaking, and the girls high-kicking their faces, I knew that I had to do it. I tried out at the end of my freshman year and was crushed when I didn't make it. My mom enrolled me in a jazz class for my sophomore year at a local dance studio. She wisely saw that I needed a bit of technique training before attempting to try out the following year. At the end of my sophomore year I tried out again and made it. I was ecstatic, to say the least. Little did I know that you could be cut from routines once you made the team, if your dancing was not up to par. I was cut from the very FIRST dance that we learned. Talk about a blow to the ego. 

After high school, I missed dance (or rather, what I thought was dance) and went back to the dance studio that my mom enrolled me in as a sophomore. That is when my love affair with real dance began. I took as many classes as I could and had dreams of becoming a professional dancer. Of course, becoming a professional dancer when you start training at eighteen years old is quite unrealistic. I suffered a knee injury (which still gives me grief today) but thought at least I could own my own studio one day.

I think that life has a funny way of working out. I truly feel that God has led me to where I am today. Sometimes I look back on my life and wish that I would have started dancing as a kid and stuck with it. It makes me wonder where I would be now. Or if I had not had a knee injury, where would I be now? If I had opened my own studio, I know I would have been ill-equipped to take on such a large endeavor. I never opened my own studio but God led me to one that a friend owned and I have never been happier. In the past five years that I have taught, I have learned so much. I have learned how to teach better and more efficiently. I have loved watching my girls get better each year. I have even become a better dancer through teaching. Who knew that could happen at age 32?

Dance is such a big part of my life so I had to share it with you. I will never be perfect, especially now as I get older. But I can become wiser, and hopefully a better teacher for it.


All images via Giordano Dance

If you have the slightest interest in dance, contact a studio near you. It's never too late to learn to dance!





24 comments:

  1. Love this story Amy! I started dancing at age 2, it was big part of my life till college! I miss it so!

    xx Amy
    Leopard and Lillies

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  2. Awwrh, this was a really sweet story! I did ballet when I was about three, but unlike you I didn't keep it up in the slightest :') How different paths can be! ♥

    Sarah ^.^

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  3. That is so awesome that you teach dance! I need help... I embarrass myself at zumba each time I go ;)

    XO
    www.pearlsandpaws.blogspot.com

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  4. i love dance, took when i was young and was on that dance team in high school as well
    brett

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  5. love to dance!
    wanna follow each other?
    ummm..cheers!

    http://fashion-babel.blogspot.com

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  6. Didn't know you dance before! i love knowing more things about you! I danced when I was younger I really feel what you explain in this amazing post!

    http://cravingforbarneys.com

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  7. I love to dance, but I'm not a dancer or good at it. I just like moving to the music! I should probably look into a studio nearby for fun, I just always feel like it's too late for me and it wouldn't be respectful to the people who have done it for years. I loved this post, Amy. Thanks for sharing about your life!!

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  8. I like modern jazz alot. I tryied few times to learn it, but I don't have music talent, I have bad hearing :(

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  9. I love that you're a dancer. Dancing is a whole other world to me and I'm always so mesmerized by it!

    xo, Yi-chia
    Always Maylee

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  10. That is such a neat story that you didn't really start dancing till an adult and now you're a dance teacher! I took ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance in college for fun :)

    -Sharon
    The Tiny Heart
    Enter my jewelry giveaway!

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  11. That's great! I didn't know that you taught dance, so fun! I grew up doing gymnastics,but always wished I had learned to dance!

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  12. I love this story.. so inspiring. I have always wished I could dance so I am quite envious of you. Like you said though, it's never too late so perhaps I should look into a class or two! Thanks for sharing!

    xoxo

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  13. Great story. I love dancing but only took classes when I was little. :) I wished I would have continued those classes until now... x angie

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  14. I love that you have dance in your life and that we've bonded over this!!!

    And ps...Love Giordono dance...Fantasticcc!!

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  15. I love this story! I was a dancer for almost 13 years, until knee injuries forced me to stop. I still miss it a lot and have toyed with the idea of taking a few classes here or there!

    -Alyssa
    The Glossy Life

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  16. That is a great story and I'm sure you're an amazing teacher. I have always truly admired great dancers. I have absolutely no rhythm, but would just love to be able to dance.

    xo Jenny
    www.crazystylelove.com

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  17. What a great talent to have! I danced when I was younger & even got to Perform at a Lakers game, but I never kept it going. Now I really wish I would have, especially after reading this post!! You're my idol!:)
    -amy
    www.dreamingincashmere.com

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  18. Such a great and interesting story! It is a wonderful thing to be in your 30s and be perfectly content with your career- isn't it!!!

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  19. Thank you for sharing! I always wonder about all the things I quit but had a talent for. What if I had kept going? (Olympic swimmer was once a dream, haha)

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  20. Thanks so much for sharing! You are so inspiring :)
    xoxo Darby
    Obviously Obsessed 

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  21. Oh Amy I feel really touched by your post!! I'm also a dancer (not a professional one though!!). I began at the age of 6 with ballet lessons and since then I've tried a lot of disciplines (jazz, hi-hop, contemporany, bellydance...) I so agree with you: it's neve to late!!
    xoxo
    Patricia

    http://misstoptenimage.blogspot.com

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  22. I love this post! I was never a dancer, but I did gymnastics for years. I recently took a mommy and me dance class with my daughter. So much fun! Thanks for sharing!

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  23. I had no idea you taught dance! I loved reading this post, it's funny how life works out...sometimes how we planned it, and sometimes not how we planned it at all! I think it's amazing that you get to pursue your life passion everyday, even if it wasn't the way you'd planned it. I've always wanted to learn to dance or take dance lessons, hoping to cross that off my bucket list soon. :) Thanks for sharing this!

    twenty-something

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  24. Love this! Love hearing about people following their passions! So happy you get to do something you love so much every day!

    xx
    Giovanna
    www.oliveandanarrow.com

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