It doesn’t matter if I’m off the beat. It doesn’t matter if I’m snapping to the rhythm. It doesn’t matter if I look like a complete goon when I dance. It is my dance. It is my moment. It is mine. And dance I will. Try and stop me. You’ll probably get kicked in the face.
Dan Pearce.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the GLOW Dance Instagram account, you would have seen an image we put up featuring this quote.
Dan’s absolutely right – IT. DOESN’T. MATTER.
I know, because I speak from experience.
I’ve always loved dance, but for so long I felt self conscious about what I looked like when I did it. I didn’t go to classes when I was a kid. I never looked like Britney. I couldn’t throw myself around in choreography like Paula Abdul or Janet Jackson, but there was always this part of me that wanted to move. I’d listen to music, and find the beat and then catch myself dancing, but then immediately feel self-conscious about it.
Was I doing it right? Did I look okay doing it? How do I get my arm to do that twisty-flick thing?
Over the past couple of years, I’ve forced myself to get past all that self-conscious crap and really explore what it means to dance FROM WITHIN. I found it quite difficult to be in a dance class, surrounded by all these other people, and struggle with choreography. Was I doing it right? Did I look okay doing it? How do I get my arm to do that twisty-flick thing? How are these people moving so quickly? I felt like all eyes were on me as the uncoordinated woman down the back flailing around like a lunatic.
Fast forward a couple of years and I went from flailing around on the floor to being the one on the stage actually TEACHING that class. I challenged myself to stick with it; to push myself and learn as much as I could – as much as my body and my brain would allow me (trying to remember an entire hour of choreography is one of the hardest learning curves I’ve ever had!), but I kept at it. I pushed and I practised. I laughed and I cried. I felt ecstatic and miserable. And it all led to the next challenge.
My most recent challenge was getting certified in GROOVE, and this has been perhaps the most eye-opening chapter in my book of dance.
Groove took everything that I’d ever known about dance and movement and threw it out the window. All those years of not feeling like I was good enough, all those countless hours of learning choreography and practising in the mirror to make sure I looked perfect – gone. Snap. Just like that.
We all have rhythm inside us – even those people who say they don’t – they do, they just haven’t given it enough attention yet.
GROOVE taught me how to move FREELY; how to dance from within, how to dance to MY OWN rhythm and not care about what others think of that. GROOVE taught me that NOBODY cares what you look like. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. When you find yourself able to strip back all the layers, eradicate all those voices that make you feel self conscious and just MOVE YOUR OWN WAY – that’s what’s most important. However your body interprets rhythm and music is YOUR dance. Yours. Nobody else’s. We all have rhythm inside us – even those people who say they don’t – they do, they just haven’t given it enough attention yet.
GROOVE has shown me that it doesn’t matter if you don’t look like Britney, or dance like Janet – whatever your gender, age, size, colour, ability – EVERYBODY can GROOVE. You find your own rhythm. You dance your own dance.
When you’re able to discover that for yourself, it’s a truly liberating feeling. I’m so grateful to have been able to share those moments with some of my closest friends in recent times, and I’m really excited to be able to share these moments with even more people when GLOW DANCE is ready to open its doors to the public.
Whilst GLOW won’t be opening until January 2020, you can start planning your first visit by checking out the various classes that we’ll be offering.