Soon I will be graduating, and with the acceptance of a diploma, I will also leave a family of dancers behind me. IU South Bend (IUSB) has been wonderful in that it provided me the opportunity to pursue dance as a minor, participate in IUSB Dance Company and African Dance, and surrounded me with an atmosphere of others who enjoy the same artistic expression as me. What’s more is that I have discovered many ways the art and practice of dance, both in the classroom and in the rehearsal and performance space, provide tools and lessons for life. Recently, I have discussed this idea with other dancers in the program at IUSB and have compiled a list of our insights.

1. "Dance teaches you how to be adaptable, and how to adapt quickly." -Chloe Woggon

Often, after studying under a certain teacher, you learn the ways that person likes you to do things. You pick up on the small nuances of their technical and aesthetic preferences, and you adapt your body to perform as such. But, while you are learning the basics and building blocks for a style of dance, once you leave that classroom, you may eventually study or work with someone else who likes things done a little differently. Knowing how to change on the spot and adapt to someone else’s preferences is a skill I have learned through dance that is also a good life skill to carry with me whenever I change environments.

2. "Dance teaches you to always be yourself, and if you work hard, you can achieve anything." -Shannon Porowski

Dancing takes a lot of hard work and effort. It requires hours in the studio practicing certain steps or combinations repeatedly. Gaining strength and flexibility takes time, so you must have the determination to push through and continue to better yourself. But, in the end, if you are willing to do this, and make sacrifices to give the time toward something you are passionate about, no matter what it is, you can really achieve anything!

3. "Dance teaches you to be patient with yourself." -Maia Sutter

In order to achieve anything you want, you have to be patient with yourself. It is easy to see all the cool possibilities the body could do, but you also can’t do them all immediately. It is more important to get the basics down and to really focus on the building blocks that create the steps that will eventually enable you to do all the cool things you wanted to do from the beginning. One of the biggest reasons people sometimes do not achieve what they want is because they give up too quickly or too easily. Because let’s face it, being patient can be a pain! But patience and focusing on the small things will always lay down the foundation to bigger and better things.

4. "Connection and passion run deeper than dance steps and influential music." -Jessica Redd

A big share of dancing is learning technique, style and steps. But that isn’t what keeps you around if you really want to dance. It takes more than just mastering the parts. To truly dance, you must have a passion for movement, expression, and performance. Passion for something beyond just the steps is what keeps a dancer dancing. And the same is true in life. Learning how to do something isn’t the same as loving to do what you have learned.

5. "Love my body regardless of what it looks like, and regardless of dance style." -Jessica Redd

As a woman especially, we are constantly bombarded with ideals of the “perfect” body type. In dance, it is sometimes thought that certain styles require certain bodies. But all of these ideas are mere social constructions and do not represent reality. Ideals of beauty differ cross-culturally, but also individually. Loving your body in your everyday living builds confidence in everyday actions. Dance can lead to this self-love because the body becomes the primary modality of expression, and we all move differently. The style of dance does not dictate the type of body. A person’s joy of movement dictates the style of dance.

6. "There is more than one way to worship." -Sardius Giden

Dance is a full body experience, and each dancer knows inside their own personal reason for doing it. When we have an intention for our movement, others who witness it pick up on this as well. Often we may associate worship with prayer and talking and clapping our hands. But there is more than one way to worship, and performing dance can be one of those ways. Truly embodying a purpose and expressing it through your whole body is one way to experience and praise the Lord, while also sharing that praise with others.

7. "Dance taught me how to control my emotions." -Jillian Rucker

In the classroom, dancing can often be frustrating. When we learn new steps, they do not always come so naturally. It may take doing something over and over and over again to finally look and feel alright doing it, let alone to have it mastered. But often, if you are having trouble catching on, you cannot show your frustration, you just have to keep going. I once had a teacher say, “If you show your frustration and emotions in the classroom, there is a good chance they may come out on stage, and no one wants that.” Life is full of struggles. Learning to be calm during the storm is an ability that may take a lifetime to master, but the dance room may be the perfect place to begin!

8. "Not everything in life has to suck." -Isabelle Hanson

Let’s be real, not everything in life is fun and giggles. Things happen that affect our emotions or make us angry or depressed. We may not feel like we want to go out and face the world anymore. But when it feels like the whole world is against you, dance can teach you that not everything in life has to suck. Sometimes when you are affected by the emotions of everyday living, when everything else seems hard, dancing can make you feel better, and in turn, make life feel a little more bearable too.

9. "Sometimes you feel like you can't do it anymore, and like you have to force yourself." -Sophia Zovich

Even though dance helps you to confront and work through depression and stress, it is not always easy to accept that it will make you feel better. Sometimes when we are stuck in a rut in life, doing anything seems like climbing a mountain. But in times like this, you may just have to force yourself. It may seem difficult at the moment to get up and go to the studio, but in the end, it almost always makes you feel better. When you are feeling down and out, getting up and forcing yourself to do something you enjoy can often make a world of difference.

We all have so much more to say, because the lessons of dance are many and hard to pack into one sentence. The reasons we stay in dance are very personal, but stronger than many might imagine. We constantly have to work with others, touch others, be overwhelmingly aware of each other, share emotions on stage, and act together as one or in opposition. As Jillian pointed out, dance can teach you how to socialize with confidence, and much of this may come from working with others in the studio. In the end, one of the greatest lessons of dance is that it teaches you how to be yourself.

Shannon put this idea perfectly in perspective, “Dance shows that everyone is different and that is perfectly okay. People’s personalities, emotions, struggles, and accomplishments show through their dance, and that makes each person’s dance style unique.” Ballet might not be for everyone, hip hop might not be your thing, but that is one beauty of dance, and of life. It is a process of constant creation, and new “styles” or “ways of moving” are discovered every time someone just allows their heart and body to guide their direction. In the end, there is always something more to work on, and the push to become better will always be there, making us stronger and more whole. I will miss all of the dancers I have met along the way, but one thing I can be sure of is that we will always keep dancing!