The beginning of this semester started the way they all do: the awkward icebreakers, introductions interrupted with yawns, and a sleepy review of the syllabus. All of these factors do a great job of disguising how seriously difficult some of these courses are. Some classes are wolves in sheep’s clothing where only time and experience will teach you how to sense it. And for the first time in my life, I found myself in a class that I knew five minutes in that I was going to immediately drop. Suddenly, I had an open space in my schedule and only two days to fill it.
So like any other lazy college student having a school-related crisis, I asked my friends for recommendations for an easy fun class. One of my friends insisted that I take the social dance class. Her selling point was that when she took the class, there was the cutest senior guy and the class gave her the opportunity to dance with him. How could I say no to dancing and the promise of cute upperclassmen? So I joined the class without realizing how much of an impact it would have on my life.
Before this class, I had only ever danced solo. In social dance, there were leads (typically guys) and follows (typically girls). There was a bit of fear surrounding dancing with someone else and allowing myself to follow. At the beginning of the semester, I found myself constantly trying to brace myself for whatever a lead might throw at me or even trying to lead myself for my partner. I was too in my head about getting everything that I kind of ignored my partner. Do I look at my partner or do I look around? Were my hands too sweaty? Was I even dancing correctly?
Over time, I learned to relax and read the lead’s cues and signals. It was strange having to hand over control and just enjoy the moment and the music. I never imagined myself having a “dance connection” with someone else. It was such a surreal experience to go from struggling so much with a type of dance and thinking you would never be able to do it well to everything clicking into place. It was a Cinderella moment but instead of a glass slipper, it was a dance partner. Dancing is so much more than just doing the steps right. Dance is a conversation without words, working with your dance partner to guide each other through the dance. I think that dancing with a partner thrives from communication. I thought it was so crazy how having a different partner can make the same dance feel like a completely different one. Everyone brings their own interpretation and style to the dance making the movements be expressed differently. In the end, dancing is more fun when you embrace the movements, let go of the idea of what is right, and define what feels right with your partner.
It was almost embarrassing how much fun I had in social dance. When I was with the right partner, I found myself smiling and giggling so hard that I thought there had to be something in my coffee that morning for me to be acting so carefree. I remember calling my mom just to tell her that I could not see myself without dancing in my life. When I am old and elderly, dancing will be the only thing that will bring me youth, where you can visually see life fill my essence the second my feet hit the dancefloor. I just loved it so much. I could tell that all the special moments in the class helped all the stress of school melt away into nothingness and leave me with a special light. For an hour twice a week, I could say goodbye to being defined by my major, future internships, and the student organizations I was a part of. Life was simple. I was just a girl who wanted to dance and I did.
Now I know you’re wondering, okay but did you find the love of your life in social dance? Yes and no. I might have had a social dance crush or two. What can I say? The social dance connection is hard to fight. But more importantly, I met an amazing group of people who made me smile and laugh harder than I thought possible. Becoming friends with them is something I would never trade for the world.
So whether it’s joining a social dance class or a different elective, I hope you decide to dedicate time to something fun that fills you with life and brings you a great group of friends.