Behind the steel barriers, I anxiously awaited for the cast to come out. I had just saw Newsies, a skillfully choreographed and executed Broadway show based on the movie of the same name. However, I wasn’t just waiting for an autograph. I wasn’t just waiting for a picture—no, I was waiting to meet my idol, Alex Wong.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been dancing. I took an Irish step dancing class at the age of three, and have fallen in love with every kind of dance ever since. I took inspiration from all of the successes I saw—Michael Jackson in his Thriller music video (and every other I’ve seen after that), Britney Spears, Beyoncé—you name it, I danced to it. There was something so empowering about dancing – I love how I could express my thoughts and feelings without saying a word.
But as any parent can tell you, dance is very expensive. Between classes, private lessons (if classes weren’t enough), shoes (that wore out easily and needed to be constantly replaced), recital outfits, and everything else in between, it’s a small fortune. I was lucky enough to be put through a combined Jazz-Ballet class when I was eleven-years-old. I was absolutely crushed once I realized I wouldn’t be able to return for a second year, but never understood why. For the absolute longest time I thought that I simply wasn’t good enough to continue dancing—that I wasn’t worth the investment. From that point on, my once passionate love for dance slowly drifted away.
Until one day, when I happened to be flipping channels I found the television show So You Think You Can Dance, and watched the audition for Alex Wong. While I was watching him explain his story of how hard he worked and how passionate he was about dancing, I couldn’t help but want to embody that spirit too. Week after week I would watch him brilliantly perform a perfect piece, and I just became more and more inspired.
It was then that I realized that I didn’t need class after class to learn how to dance—I started mimicking what I saw on the show, going on YouTube, trying to find routines to learn in any kind of style I could. That’s when I started becoming involved— I volunteered as a dance teacher at my local middle school, signing up to teach after school dance workshops, doing anything that I could to dance and to teach others how to dance.
Behind those steel barriers, I tried my best to keep calm as he walked out to greet everyone. Taking pictures and signing autographs, I was shocked when I actually came face to face with Alex. I had no idea what to say, so my friend asked him if she could get a picture of him and me (thankfully). After the picture, while he was signing my playbill, I couldn’t help but say “You did an amazing job!” After thanking me for something he’d already heard probably a thousand times earlier I said, “Thank you so much, Alex. You inspired me to dance again!” (which was all I could really say, I’m such a crybaby and I was so close to crying). By the way his eyes lit up and the corners of his lips turned up into a genuine smile, you could tell he hadn’t heard that yet. He replied with a simple, “Thank you, you’re so sweet!” and after saying goodbye, moved onto the next group.
Meeting my idol was an amazing experience—it’s one thing to see a performance on television, but another thing entirely to see it on stage, right in front of you. Seeing all of this positive energy personified is like nothing else. Ever since meeting Alex Wong, I can’t say I’ve danced the same. I put more of myself into it, making every single move count.