Figure 1: Photo courtesy of Airman 1st Class Leah Ferrante/Released
Incapable.
This is the word that would always come to my mind if I had ever thought of myself dancing. Being a girl who is six foot one inch, I’ve always felt that when I danced I looked like the ragdoll from the old children’s show Toy Castle. I would be too scared to dance to anything without choreography in fear of sheer embarrassment. This fear was hindering me from enjoying events such as parties and concerts, so I decided that enough was enough and on September 20th, 2017 I joined the dance class Hip Hop I at the Ryerson Athletic Centre (RAC).
The class costed myself $85 (plus HST), a discounted price of the original $160 since I had the privilege of being a Ryerson student. The class was led by former Ryerson as well as York student, Aaron Aquino-Annobil, who I immediately felt a connection with as he also grew up in my hometown Scarborough. We stretched and warmed up to the beat of multiple songs on his playlist where he, unbeknownst to us at the time, taught us some of the more difficult dance moves that he’d incorporate later as well as how to move our bodies naturally to the beat of the music.
Then it got interesting.
Our instructor Aaron began choreographing to the song Ice Melts by artists Drake and Young Thug. Aaron made moves that looked complicated together, seem incredibly simple by themselves. He took just the right amount of time on each move to ensure each of the students understood it fully before moving on to the next step. Something I especially enjoyed was Aaron’s way of describing moves. One particular explanation that made me laugh was a move where you would fold your hands and fingers into gun shapes and point from one side to the other. Aaron thought that a good way to describe this move was by referencing the popular Canadian children’s show Big Comfy Couch. Aaron told the class to pretend as if we were Loonette the Clown from the show, pointing to the culprit of a cookie theft. We all chuckled along as we copied his actions while repeating “you stole the cookie, you did.” Of course, with portrayals such as these, hilarity ensues.
Soon enough the choreography for the 60-minute block of time we had for the class was over… except it wasn’t. After learning and rehearsing the entire routine for one song, Aaron used the song Humble by Kendrick Lamar to help us make the routine faster. I found the song switching technique very interesting and useful, as after a few run-throughs we all quickly got used to the change of pace.
Soon after the session was over. It ended as quickly as it began and I found myself wanting to learn more choreographies. Unfortunately, and fortunately I’d have to wait until the next Wednesday to continue learning.
I’m so glad to have joined the 10-week Hip Hop program and I am so excited to continue attending. I still find myself feeling insecure of the way I look while I dance but I hope that those self-doubts will seize as I continue dancing.
I’ve always liked trying new things and gaining experiences I never thought I could because it makes me feel as if I’m conquering life (as lame as that sounds). If I could share one thing from this experience I’d encourage everyone to challenge themselves and do something they’ve always wanted but never gave themselves the time to do. It’s a very enjoyable experience and usually you feel glad you tried it. I know I am.