dance like no-one's watching...?

I love dancing. It is the most beautiful art form because it's something you express with your body, your face, everything. It can be so very personal, and, when it comes from the heart, it has the power to deeply move and really affect.

I feel like dancing has a bit of a bad press. Music videos with talented dancers doing nothing but thrusting and grinding make me wonder how such a vivid art form has been taken and transformed so dramatically. Dancing is supposed to be something that comes from inside, no matter what the steps. It bugs me that some people's only experience of dancing comes from stuff like this.

I'd like to take this oppurtunity a few myths about my favourite pasttime...

1. Dancing is not a sport.Dancing is insane exercise! Anyone that does it would agree with me. It's as much a sport as ice-skating or figure-skating. Anyone who says otherwise should try it! ;)

2. Dancing is for girls and guys that dance must be gay.

Ppppffffffffffttt. Males dancers exist in their abundance, and it is an incredibly narrow-minded stereotype to even consider them gay. They are usually much more fit and athletic than other guys. Street dance is becoming increasingly popular, and there are many popular male street dancers like George Sampson and Diversity. But this doesn't mean that male ballet or contemporary dancers should be stereotyped or labelled. I think its because dancing is such an expressive art form and there is this unwritten law in society that men shouldn't show too much emotion. Dancing requires immense strength, a quality more associated with men than with woman.

3. Every dancer is insanely flexible effortlessly.

True, they are the occasional few who can drop into splits from the age of 3. These are the severe minority however and I am (to my dismay) not one of them. Most dancers have to work immensely hard not only to gain a level of suppleness, but also to maintain. Serious dancers stretch daily, and often push their bodies to limits not reached in other sports. Flexibility in dancing is also generally a bonus rather a requirement.

If you're still reading now, it's either because you already liked dancing or I've done something in this blog to inform you. I adore dancing - when done well it is lyrical, expressive, and I use to express emotions I can't always put into words.

God bless,

Love, Anna :)