You Say Tomato: Thoughts On Sibling Rivalry

*My sister and I summer of 2010. Kinda explains it all.



Dance is a world full of competition. Whether you are competing for prime roles in major ballets, competing for the front spot in your dance team, or just competing with yourself to get your battements higher, there is always that sense of trying to beat someone out. That competition only gets harder when you are competing with…a sibling.

Growing up, I had a lot of friends with siblings, and they always seemed to be opposites of each other. One was quiet, while one was loud. One was into sports, the other art. One was popular, one was not. This stereotype even held true to me and my own sister. While I was the studious good girl who was involved in church groups and couldn’t care less about my poofy frizzy hair, my sister was the primped up popular kid who spent her nights partying and her days sleeping through school. Somehow, with these opposite personalities, we both found our niche in dance.

Not too long ago, I read the autobiography of Fred Astaire “Steps in Time” that had been originally published in 1959. While knowing of Fred Astaire, and falling in love with his many movies co-starring with Ginger Rogers, I was surprised to learn of his sister Adele. I was also surprised to learn that she had been a famous dancer, as well. The only difference was that Adele had been more of a vaudeville star, while Fred had stepped into the movie business.

Mr. Astaire spoke adoringly of his sister. She was the older of the two, and yet while there were many small jokes and digs at Adele, Fred always managed to speak of her respectfully, as if she had been the movie star. Fred contributed much of his early success in the vaudeville circuit to his sister, but one has to wonder- how much sibling rivalry was there? Particularly in the 50’s, it was not looked upon favorably to speak ill of one’s family, so it makes me wonder how many spats they actually had.

I even see it among my own students. As a dance teacher, you get to see many dancers grow, and you also get to see their younger siblings come in and get excited about following in their big sister or brother’s shoes. When they finally start dancing in the same circuits, you also get to see them either get along famously, or fight like cats and dogs.

My sister and I were the students that fought like cats and dogs. Sis and I are five years apart, but even so, when the competitive teams formed my freshmen year of high school, there were only so many levels. While I was in one of the top teams, my sister was in one of the younger. I even helped assist one of her classes (with a very fond memory of being left alone with them one day and having to scream at her and her best friend… They were fondly nicknamed “Monster and Munchkin”). We did not often dance together, but in my sophomore year of high school, it was suggested we do a duo. I can remember many rehearsals where our mother brought us into the studio to practice, and my dearly patient mother yelling at us to practice the lift again so that my sister would put her foot in the right place and I wouldn’t purposely drop her on her head. We did win the Top Duo award at a summer competition that year, but my sister and I never did a duo. Ever again.

At only two other points do I remember us dancing together. In my senior year, we did an all-competitive team dance to “Because We Can” from Moulin Rouge, and in that same year, we needed a couple of fill-ins for when we went to Nationals, and my sister and 2 others filled in the spots. While I don’t specifically remember if there were any conflicts within these dances, I know we stuck to our own groups of friends, and tried not to admit too much that we were related.

Other than choreographing a jazz solo for her a couple of years later, my sister and I have not crossed paths dance-wise. She DID however, wind up at the same university as I did for a dance major. By the time she graduated this year, though, there were only a handful of teachers still there that even knew who I was.

Through all our experiences together, there was always a sense of sibling rivalry. The best way to describe it is that my sister and I, while both very good dancers, had very different styles, and very different backgrounds. While I didn’t get to start competing until I was 14, my sister was 9 when she started. She won titles, while I never came close. She was a style-ized dancer with an earlier, stricter training, and a bit of a crazy personality. I was the technical dancer who blossomed as she got older, and was very shy until I hit the stage. There have been times when I’ve admittedly been jealous of my sister, but I’m sure there have been times when my sister has envied what I’ve had (though my sister being who she is would NEVER admit that to anyone!).

I am now starting to find that my sister and I are beginning to cross paths again. While I am personally trying to reignite my dance/teaching career, my sister is just beginning hers with her recent graduation from the University of Hartford. We want to take similar dance classes, and that is leading her to auditions, which is leading her to ask me to come along. The only problem is- what happens when one of us gets the job, and the other does not?

Now, my sister and I would be able to handle it, but I’ve seen plenty of sibling duos that I don’t think would easily take that competition. I have seen younger siblings that idolize their older counterparts, but have gotten the parts that they wanted, and watched the foundations of their relationships crack. I think it’s the toughest in any performing arts. To dance is to love. You must have an undying passion for dance to make it as your career. When one’s passion is being compared against their closest DNA match, and often their friend, hearts can be broken. At the same time, that sibling bond can be your biggest boost, your biggest inspiration, and your biggest support system. To have someone so close to you understand that love, and what it means to “put it all out there” is a gift.

Personally, while I have had my bouts with my sister, she is my biggest inspiration. She is an innovative choreographer. I haven’t seen much of her as a dancer, but what I have seen- she is good. She pushes me to be better, and to be on top of my game. We don’t always get along, particularly with being in such different places in our lives, but I love the kid with all my heart.

I can only hope that other dancers with siblings can find that love and shared passion in their own lives. It has helped connect me and my sister (otherwise, our friendship may have been lost years ago), and can help others share a bond. I look forward to possible future endeavors with my sister, and I even hope that we continue with our minor sibling rivalry so that I never lose that desire to be better.

So to Fred Astaire who joked of his sister, but never lost his adoration of her- I tip my hat to you, sir, in full understanding.

The Great Choreo Capers

Last week, the warm weather started rolling in. Bright sunshine, temperatures in the 70’s, outdoor patios opening up and tops down on convertibles. The other sign of summer? The premier of So You Think You Can Dance!

However, with the opening night has already come a controversy. Brothers Deon and Damon were featured as being a quirky duo with charm up the wazoo. The judges were delighted by their humorous performance and their fun personalities. They were given tickets straight to Vegas, which anyone who watches the show knows is the main goal.

What the judges did not know is that their “choreography” was not so original. Many people after watching the first episode began to spread a video that put Deon and Damon against a duo only listed as “the Les Twins”. Side by side videos of both pairs were shown doing choreography that was almost identical in nature, besides a few tweaks here and there. At the end, the video publicly denounces Deon and Damon for “stealing” choreography, and asks that everyone spreads the images so that they can be kicked off the show.

This video has sparked a controversy not just within the public that knew the videos, but from So You Think You Can Dance’s own All-Stars. D-trix and Neill started debating over whether taking the choreography was right. D-trix claimed it was frowned upon in the hip hop world. Neill claimed that it was similar to ballet- the same choreography has been passed down from company to company over the years.

Personally, I can understand both sides of the argument. It’s not appropriate to put unoriginal choreography on tv. However, at the same time, they are not being judged on their choreography, but rather their dancing. I would say that maybe they explained it to the judges at some point, but Nigel Lythgoe, the executive producer and beloved judge, even posted on his twitter that he wished the brothers had told them the choreography was not their own. Perhaps it was not their intention to “rip off” choreography. They say that copying is the sincerest form of flattery, right? So wouldn’t this be the case?

But how do the Les Twins feel about this? The videos have been posted by others on their Facebook page. It is not mentioned whether or not they are actually aware of it (they are also French, so a lot of the page is in French!). Is it possible for them to sue Damon and Deon? Is it possible for them to sue the television network?

What bothers me most about this is that this will make it harder for the show So You Think You Can Dance. Instead of just pulling together reels of dancers and putting together audition segments, they will now most likely have to cross-reference all the choreography to make sure that it is original. But then that brings up another thought- many of these younger dancers are part of the competition scene. They are getting their solos from big name choreographers, and showing it throughout the competition circuit. Would that count as “unoriginal” choreography?

I do believe that while the viral video was good to make the public aware of what happened, it is not appropriate for them to get kicked off the show. They did get here based on their own merits. With not being judged on choreography, their personalities were their own, and their style was their own. While they may not have done it the right way, they still EARNED their way to Vegas (not to mention the couple rounds of improvisation that is required before any dancer even gets to show their solo!). If they are not on the show by the time it gets down to the wire in Vegas, then perhaps they will learn for next time. If they are there, then clearly they have proven that they are meant to be on that stage. With every mistake must come some understanding, even within the dance world.

I do not condone what the brothers did, nor am I backing the idea of kicking them off the show. My intention is merely to get everyone thinking. How right is it? Should So You Think You Can Dance make a formal apology? Should the Les Twins speak up about it? It’s interesting to contemplate, and I’m sure that everyone has their own opinion on it!

For the Love of Dance

I missed a whole dance season here!

I apologize for not keeping up with this. Summer season is here, though, and I will have plenty of time to contemplate and update and introduce, etc.

The studio which I work for just had their recitals this past weekend. It’s always a unique experience for me, because not only do I get to work with all the students within the studio, but I get to see my own students put all their hard work onto the stage!

After the first of four (yes four!) recitals of the weekend, one of my competitive students came up to me backstage. She and a couple other girls asked if the number looked good. I told them it was one of the best times I’d ever seen their dance. The girl looked at me and said that it was the first time in a long time that she had had fun dancing. “I think it’s because I wasn’t worried about competition.” The other girls with her agreed. This got me thinking.

It made me a little sad to know that these kids, while loving dance, and enjoying being a competitive dancer, weren’t fully experiencing it. While yes, these students ARE competitive, and they ARE supposed to be working on their technique and perfecting their lines and turns and jumps, these students are also supposed to be learning to balance the fun with the hard work. This made me realize that even though my studio is tough on these kids, maybe I personally don’t remind them enough about the passion (and now I realize, maybe I don’t remind MYSELF enough about the passion).

Martha Graham (a pioneer and huge influence of the modern dance world, and an idol of mine) once said “Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” As both a teacher and dancer, I know all too well that we often forget about the passion. It is the passion of dance that drives us to attending hours of classes each week that we emerge from with bloodied toes, aching joints, and sore muscles. It is the passion of dance that drives us to take the yelling of our teachers that we didn’t hit that triple turn for the umpteenth time. It is the passion of dance that brings us back to the classroom after we clumsily fell onstage during a competition number that most likely knocked the platinum-level dance down to a high gold. It is the inner passion that drives us. But we often overlook it, based on sheer discipline.

Dancers are essentially masochists. We allow others to beat us up, and we beat ourselves up. I have a student who proudly shows me bruises when she’s fallen hard on a great move to the floor. Non-dancers would not boast of something like that. Why would we do this? It is not the pride of the injury, but rather the pride of the perseverance that got us to overcome the bruises to master the step that caused it. As dancers, our teachers push us to that point of blood, sweat, and tears. As teachers, we push our students so they can know the sweet taste of the fruit of their labors.

However, what kind of teachers are we that we don’t remind these students of their LOVE for it? At our studio, the competition kids get a pizza party for one of their last classes. It’s a break from all the dancing before they go into recitals and finish the year off on a good note. For one of my older kids’ last jazz/lyric class, I gave them a jazzy/contemporary-esque style combination to get them to relax and have fun. One girl even said “I wish we had a combo class that we could go to every week, just to have fun.” Sometimes to remind the kids of their passion and love, we have to let them have fun and relax. Why not just let them dance?

The girl that approached me backstage reminded me that these kids are still kids. When they go onstage, they are still students. As they perform their entrance, they typically are thinking of what they need to do. “Smile bigger here,” “Straighten your knees in this leap,” “Use my spot for the triple pirouette.” They become so engrossed in what they NEED to do that they aren’t just simply DANCING. They are too concerned with the people in front of them that are marking down their scores. This is why I love recitals. They get to be reminded that they have friends and family that are there to just watch them dance. Their audience is there to watch them enjoy themselves.
Students don’t always realize, as well, that judges like to see students who love dancing. I acted as a judge for a competition this past season, and the ones who seemed to really enjoy themselves stood out in my mind. One can tell a huge difference between the girl with technique who is mentally in a place of what she is doing, or what she is about to do, and the girl with technique who is just out there to DANCE. Most people don’t realize that it shows an immense amount of difference.

Now, I am certainly not knocking competitive dancing. It is the main focus of the studio I work at, and it is SUCH a good tool to bring out the best dancer in some kids. I was a competitive dancer myself, and it helped me come out of my shell in more ways than I can explain. All I am merely trying to point out is that sometimes we need to bring kids out of their element to remember how much they love what they do. No one student walks into a competitive program with the expectation of it being easy. They need to love it, and need to have that unbridled desire to dance. It is that PASSION that brings them to the hard part, and the PASSION that pushes them to see it all the way through to the end.

I can only hope that many of these students keep that passion within them for the rest of their lives. Dance is never an easy road, and they have to remember why they do it, or else when they falter, or obstacles present themselves, they may not be able to overcome.

On another note, I need to remind myself that this is a passion of mine. As I get older, life can get in the way, and sometimes obstacles become harder to get over. Even recently, as my sister is auditioning for companies, and trying to get me to come along, I shy away from the idea merely because I see my shortcomings as obstacles. However, I am trying to pull myself together and get over those fears of not being able to hold my own. I have recently been working on my own ways to remind myself that this is what I’ve loved doing since I was five, and what I’ve known I’ve wanted to do for my career since I was seven. From reading dance books, to taking class, to keeping up on my dance blog (hint hint to self!), these are all things that excite me and remind me why I can’t live without dance.

So to summarize- sometimes we become too caught up in the technique to remember the beauty of what we do. We are our passion, and we need to be reminded, and remind ourselves, of our love affair with dance. Of course, as a teacher, it is my own personal responsibility to share that with my students.


Note: I am in no way criticizing the teachings or style of teachings of ANYONE. These are solely my thoughts on the topic, and merely contemplative in nature. It is not meant to offend or critique or downplay any one way of teaching or learning. Please keep this in mind.

Cuz They're Doin Choreography!

I apologize for the fact that this blog has been a little dormant. Dance season started, and it seemed to just ricochet off into a crazy lifestyle! Things are starting to slow down now, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to sit down and write a new entry!

Today's topic- choreographic process!

I love choreography. Everything about it just makes me ooze enthusiasm. So far this year I've completed two pieces, and am 1-2 classes away from completing another. Every time I see a part emerge from my brain and into reality, I get so excited! Perhaps it's the dance nerd in me, but I don't know many other teachers that want to cry when their pieces materialize into their vision.

Every teacher seems to have a different process. Some teachers plan and create for weeks, while others take the energy of the studio and create on the spot. I'm always reminded of my composition classes in college, where if we had procrastinated too long, we threw something together the night before in 20 minutes, then ran off to class the next day to show something that usually half of us couldn't remember, and wound up making it up on the spot. While composition classes taught me a lot, nothing taught me more than my experiences with teaching. I could create as much as I wanted in college and put pieces on college students, but nothing compares to taking students who are younger, ready to learn, and eager to please and creating a piece for them and their many styles/talents.

I've found that I have a very specific process. I walk everywhere, so I always have an ipod on me to listen to music. When I've found a piece of music that has hit me as what I want to use, I listen to it over and over and over and over and over... etc. Visions begin to form in my mind. Whether it's patterns onstage, or a specific move that fits perfectly with a lyric or a phrase of music, an overall feel develops in my mind. I always start with that feel. I create certain sections without steps, knowing what kind of things I want at different points.
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I then start to choreograph the steps within the studio without the students. I usually wait to see the kids in front of me before I put people in their specific places. When eventually the steps are created, I get to actually teach it! In almost all cases, though, I hit a road block. There's a bar of 8 that I can't wrap my brain around, or a section where I have no idea what I want to do, or there's a transition that I can't come up with. This is the time that I either tell the kids to skip it and we'll move on to the next, or I experiment.

This year, I came across a unique situation. I was in process of creating my three pieces, and I had hit a choreo block. Two of the pieces had not materialized quite the way I had wanted them to, and one had a whole section I didn't know what I wanted to do with. I wasn't happy about it, and I was frustrated. I started teaching the ballet piece, and I was in the studio with the students trying to figure out what I wanted to do. All of a sudden, as I'm listening to the music, and I'm trying to lift my mental shades, I came up with an idea for the ballet. I became very animated teaching to the students, and got far into the dance. The class ended and as I packed up and walked out the door, I stuck my headphones in my ears.

It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt lighter, happier. I then wound up planning out the rest of all the dances. Each one had an ending. Each one had a middle! No phrases unaccounted for. I'd never had an "A-HA!" moment like that before, and it was special, and I was actually very happy to have the students that helped with it share that with me. It was lovely, and very important. It taught me that not everything can be plotted or planned. Sometimes you just need to have that "moment."

Nothing is more rewarding, though, than when you have finally finished the piece, and you see it in its entirety for the first time. I had to create my first competitive lyric dance this year, and I was nervous about it. I wanted to create something beautiful and wonderful that would accentuate the talents of the kids. Throughout the process I thought it would look good, but then the full run-through happened. Music and dance combined to form this beauty. I started tearing up at certain points, just because it was so emotional for me. It was what I had envisioned, and it was coming to life. The students loved it, and you could see that they put their hearts and souls into it.

The ballet was different when I finished. It was very similar, but I started yelling because I was so excited. I was shouting counts, because it was a vibrant and lively ending, and the music was loud and building, and all I could do was shout! It wasn't in a bad way. It was in a good way. The music built as did the excitement in my chest.

I'm looking forward to finishing the third piece. Pretty soon I'll be working on a bunch of ballet pieces, and a couple other different kinds of dance for recital pieces. But then again, that won't be until after winter break.

Can you believe it's almost time for winter break? Time seems to fly...

Fall Will Soon Be Here...

In the past couple of days, there have been hints of fall in the air. With the incessant rain that the North Shore got here, the temperatures dropped a bit, and the coolness sparked the thoughts of dance into my head.

I love the fall. It’s absolutely my favorite season. Even without being in school anymore, I get the luxury of “going back.” While most people only have their jobs that continue, and merely get to look forward to the change in seasons, I get to return to the excitement of a new season of dance!

The anticipation of starting a new year is always a joy. It’s a time to reflect on the previous season, and look forward to the new one. At the studio I work at, we have a two week summer intensive for the competitive students, so I get to also reflect on that, and take what I saw in their classes and apply it to the new year. I get to think about all the returning students that I’ve grown to love, and the new ones that will quickly adapt to their new dance surroundings. I also get to think about all the new steps and combinations that I will have the opportunity to teach them, and how quickly (or slowly) they will pick them up, and how the progressions will make them, and me, feel!

Reflecting on the past, and looking to the future. That’s really what fall is about, right? Fall brings about the reflection of the summer. Summer is about the sunny weather, the time spent outside, and the enjoyment of being able to spend more time with friends and family, whether it’s on a vacation or celebrating the fourth of July at a barbeque. We look back to those good times and the happiness that the lazy days of the warmer seasons brought us.

At the same time, we look forward to the future. In the fall, while many of us move forward with heavy hearts of summer behind us, we begin the excitement of going back to school. With the temperatures dropping, a buzz for everything we are learning and doing grows. Our lives become busier with the hustle and bustle of the new. As a dance teacher, I can hardly contain my happiness when my summer-dormant creative outlets are reinstated.

Just going through music, trying to find and put together play lists for class, gets me hyped up for the year. My brain starts putting together steps and coming up with ideas for new and fun things for class. Sometimes my brain runs away, and I begin to choreograph for classes that I don’t have, but that’s okay. Usually, it leads to an idea for a class that I DO have! This typically makes me think of my students, and I can’t wait to see how they will react to the things I throw at them!

The other minor excitement is getting new dance clothes! Even today, I just received my package of yoga pants that I will be using for the year! I love browsing through all the dance supply catalogs online to see what I might be interested in getting, and to see what I can buy that’s “in” (because really, as a dance teacher, sometimes you have to try to stay “hip” when dealing with adolescents!). I love trying to anticipate what all my students will be attempting to wear in my ballet classes (no baggy clothes, and warm ups only until rond de jambes on REALLY cold days!), or what the recreational students will be bringing in to wear for hip hop! I also love finding the few choice pieces that will pop in my wardrobe, and will keep me within my budget!

All in all, I cannot wait for autumn to begin. I am excited to see my students, and to begin choreographing. I know that many of my students are excited to return as well. I can’t wait for all of us to be happily reunited again!

Dance- A sport, or an art?

Today my topic stems from an announcement made on So You Think You Can Dance last Thursday. During the usual opening for the show, Nigel Lythgoe told America that Gatorade was now recognizing dance as a sport. The winner of this season’s show will go on to become the first recognized dancer to represent Gatorade. This has sparked a huge debate in the dance world- is dance really a sport, or is it an art?

My first delve into researching this topic led me to trying to define “art” and “sport.” Wikipedia seemed to give me the best definitions.

“Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the sense or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.”

It intrigued me that even though this described dance perfectly, dance was not listed as an art. Choreography is essentially the “arranging of elements.” When one dances, all the elements align and are put together to create a whole piece. Dance hits all the points of that definition, particularly the mode of expression. I don’t know a single dancer who hasn’t been moved by at least one piece that they’ve danced or created in their life. Even my younger students talk about how they’ve felt during a piece. Essentially, as well, aesthetics are a big part of dance. Everything has to look right, whether it’s meant to be aesthetic for the audience, or for the choreographer.

After seeing that dance was not truly considered an “art”, I did a search for performing art, and that’s where I found it listed. It was basically described as the materials for the art being the human form, as opposed to physical objects. This makes sense, but then this is where we get dangerously close to the definition of a sport.

“A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and skills of the competitor when determining the outcome (winning or losing). The physical activity involves the movement of people, animals and/or a variety of objects such as balls and machines. In contrast, games such as card games and board games, though these could be called mind sports and some are recognized as Olympic sports, require only mental skills. Non-competitive activities such as jogging and rock-climbing, are usually classified as recreations.”

This also defines dance. Whether we dance in competitions, or in class, it is still competitive. It’s the difference between competing with other people, and competing with yourself. Dancers are constantly trying to one up themselves to achieve that physical perfection. It’s organized with a set of rules for each class, and how each movement is executed. It’s also most indefinitely a skillful physical activity.

So here’s where the arguments come in. Both art and sport define dance.

Nigel said on the episode of SYTYCD that he couldn’t wait for dance to be included in the Olympics. My gut reaction was “No way!” Dance is so SUBJECTIVE. Contrary to some of the arguments I’ve heard, dance is not like gymnastics. While there are the floor sections that might as well be a dance with a lot of flips, there is still a set amount of tricks that need to be performed. That’s all it basically is, though- a bunch of tricks. I hear from so many judges and dance teachers that complain when dances become all about the “wow” factor, and they don’t have the basics to back it up. In gymnastics, I’m pretty sure that the judges aren’t critiquing on how the gymnasts hold their hands or how wonderful their chasses are (I don’t know this for a fact. If a gymnast out there reads this and I’m wrong feel free to correct me). In dance, those are the basics that need to be judged on. Gymnastics is also based on the steps. Dance is typically based on the emotion or the expression. How could a judge critique emotion? You can’t set a bunch of rules on how to judge emotion. One judge may like the fact that they’re making big faces, while the other may think the dancer is doing too much. A syllabus on how to determine that couldn’t very well be made without a huge controversy.

At the same time, though, dance is SO athletic! Why do you think most dancers are thin but muscular? It’s because of the intensity that it brings to our physical beings. If you get the right dance teachers, they’ll tell you that you should be sweating after the first combination that you do in class. Dance is created so that you work right off the bat. The physical demands are so extreme that classes are designed to almost immediately warm up your body. In this aspect, it almost DEMANDS to be a sport. The physicality of it is almost more-so than half the sports out there. I mean, come on, look at curling. If THAT can be called a sport, why not call dance a sport?

Then there’s the comparison of dance and cheerleading, and how cheerleading is not being considered a sport. This just boggles my mind. How can cheerleading NOT be called a sport? Yes, it involves poms poms, and yes, it involves yelling, but seriously, I’d like to see some of those nay-sayers do a split jump in second, or even attempt a back flip! I can’t do it. I’d absolutely put cheerleading in the category of sports. There’s an element of creativity to it, of course, but it’s not really a performing art. The physical demands of dance and cheerleading are very much so the same, with the only differences being the types of tricks that are performed. So if cheerleading won’t be considered a sport, then why is dance now being considered?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and walk that fiery line of being on both sides. I think it’s an athletic performing art. The other performing arts out there don’t put that physical demand on the body. You can’t call acting a sport, right? There isn’t the same level of activity. At the same time, it’s a form of expression and was originally created as a way for people to interact. It’s a performance, not just a regulated series of steps. Essentially, dance is the best of the both worlds. It’s the only performing art that requires that physicality, while at the same time is one of the few sports that require the creative aspect along with emotion.

The next time you talk to a dancer, give them some credit. They’re always being told that they’re one thing or another, when really they’re all the good things of the categories they’re being defined as rolled into one. I really think that dance stands on its own, and is in and of itself its own entity. Thanks for the nudge, though, Gatorade! We appreciate the recognition!

(Just a little note- thanks to www.wikipedia.com for the definitions! I am not endorsed or anything to use their site or anything like that, though! I don't own those definitions!)

National Dance Day

Happy National Dance Day everyone! Take a moment to celebrate, even if it's just a little boogie down in front of the mirror before you take off to enjoy the day! I know I'm going to try to!