First things first: I am not a dancer.
Two years ago I enrolled in my first ever dance class, Ballroom 1, here at UW-Madison. It was a fantastic experience. Being a Theatre and Drama major, you can never have enough skills and unique talents. To help cushion my acting resume before graduating (similar to a regular resume, but listing your acting experiences as opposed to your previous job experiences), I thought it might be a good idea to start acquiring said skills and talents, and dancing appeared to be the best way to start.
Although I haven’t taken a dance class since my sophomore year, this semester I decided I would give it another shot by enrolling in Hip-Hop. I was extremely hesitant to enroll in this course because I knew that, unlike ballroom, a lot more of my classmates would have hip-hop dance experience, especially considering the demographic it appealed to as opposed to ballroom, namely college-aged males and females in comparison to 40-year-olds.
I contemplated dropping the class up until the first week of school. Why? What was the big deal? I knew I wasn’t the best dancer, but by enrolling in this course, it meant I would have to expose one of my weaknesses (one of the more embarrassing ones) to the better half of 40 people. As a performer, I’m very used to feeling confident stepping onto a stage and exposing myself to auditions, audiences and rejection. But, I wasn’t used to this. The funny thing is, I truly love dancing. When I was in kindergarten I took a ballet class, and while I don’t remember much, I do remember loving every second of it — especially the final concert. I also had a blast learning how to foxtrot, swing dance and waltz in Ballroom 1; it was a great way to meet new people from many different majors and years.
At the end of the day, I decided it didn’t hurt to test the waters, so I went to my first day of hip-hop. I was nervous and a million thoughts were swimming in and out of my head: Was hip-hop going to be challenging? Would I be able to keep up? Was I even wearing the right clothes? My stomach felt like it was in my throat, and it was hard for me to breathe for most of my walk to class.
But you know what? Everything turned out just fine. When I got to class, I sat with a bunch of girls that were also nervous about class starting. We introduced ourselves on the first day, and have been pals in class ever since. Our instructor then introduced himself, and I could immediately tell he was one of the good ones. He was extremely down-to-earth and told us that in his class, hip-hop wasn’t about nailing every move, but about having a good time. I knew from that moment on I wasn’t only going to stay in his class, but that I would be in good hands. My instructor relinquished the ability to fail, because after all, it wasn’t wearing the right clothes or my ability to remember the choreography that was bothering me, it was that I was afraid of failing as a whole. Once I came to terms with that, hip-hop class on Fridays from 11 a.m.-12:40 p.m. became my favorite time of the week because I didn’t have to worry about failing — I just needed to have fun.
On Friday, November 30th in Lathrop Hall, I participated in my first ever dance showcase. It was voluntary, but I knew that after conquering the first day of class, this was the next step in breaking out of my comfort zone. It was a rush. My classmates and I were all dressed in urban-style clothing (we looked amazing) and surged with a kind of performance energy that I hadn’t felt in a while. I’m used to memorizing chunks of text and performing them onstage; forgetting lines has never been a concern of mine. But, it wasn’t until I was about to enter the stage and perform a hip-hop routine in front of a bunch of strangers that I realized I was actually quite nervous, but the good kind. A friend of mine came to support me and was sitting in the audience, which was really exciting because she had never seen me dance before. I decided to perform for her, and with that, the show went off without a hitch.
Leaving the stage of my dance showcase, only one thought went through my head: I love hip-hop and I can’t stop dancing just because the semester is ending, which is why I am currently enrolled to take hip-hop again next semester.
It’s hard to put oneself out of their comfort zone, because it’s, well, uncomfortable. I think it’s important for anyone attempting to put themselves ‘out there’ a little more, to try something that scares you, but not enough that you wouldn’t consider giving it a go. By breaking down our own personal barriers, we have the ability to open up new windows of opportunity for ourselves, and who knows what will come of it!