So, I wish I had more photos, but allow me to share my dancer side with you.
(Eventually, I'll find or "steal" some photos from friends, but I used to have tons of photos from productions and basketball games!)
I never took a single dance class growing up. For strange reasons, I was too scared to have my mom drop me off somewhere and leave me for the hour. But I loved to dance! I would dance for hours in my room by myself. My brothers would stand there at the door when I wasn't looking and laugh at me. I didn't care. I'd slam the door in their faces and continue to dance. (After screaming, "MOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! THEY'RE BOTHERING ME!!!")
I remember in 2nd Grade me and my best friend at the time, Heather, signed up for the talent show. As a side note, I'd like to mention that the school my brothers and I attended was part of Indiana State University - called, appropriately enough, University School. Our mother worked there for some time and it was a school for students of both employees as well as parents from abroad (my other BFF was a boy from Japan) studying for their masters/doctorates. It was pre-school through 9th grade, so it was the only few years that I had spent going to school with my older brothers.
So, yes - it must be mentioned that the talent show at University School was a big deal. ALL the older kids would see us! Heather didn't dance as much as I did, so I was mostly nervous that she'd back out on me, even though I thought she was good. My sister helped with the choreography, but it was mostly me and Heather, my first choreographed piece to be performed! I chose Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step" ...and every little step had to be perfect!
At the time, Heather and I did a program called Jump for Heart, where you'd meet after school and jump rope for an hour, collecting donations for the Heart Foundation. We loved jumping rope! I was good and could even criss cross like a pro. I knew I was good *smirk* So, there was a break in the music where Heather and I decided to jump rope.
It was my first show and I wasn't nervous at all. I am still shocked at how me, a shy bookworm that normally kept to herself, got up on that stage and and danced danced danced! I remember vividly how, when Heather and I started jumping rope, the whole front of the auditorium - filled with all my brothers' friends and all the older kids - clapped and cheered loudly for us!!! I realized that they were probably encouraging us since we were so young and they knew I was "The Twins'" lil' sis, but NO they had to recognize - I was criss-crossing like a BOSS on that stage! AND to Bobby Brown.
I never took a dance class.
....but that didn't stop me from auditioning for the middle school dance team in 7th grade. The girl teaching the choreography went to school with my brothers and she encouraged me to try out. The eight 8-counts (a typical try-out routine) we had to learn were HARD. And fast, as it was set to the beat of an Uncle Luke song (looong way away from Bobby now.) Turn, jump, punch, slide... Whew! I rehearsed all day and night until I finally thought I had it.
And.. I nailed it. I was in!! I made the team! I remember feeling nervous about checking the list for my name.. but sure enough, I was on it. I made it for 8th grade too, as well as being Co-Captain. :)
9th Grade meant high school. It meant a bigger and better squad. I almost didn't try out for the Spirettes, the high school dance team. But several of my friends were trying out and I went with them.
Whoa. The choreography was RIDICULOUS. I had to work extra hard on turns and leaps because my technique was sloppy. And to make it even more nerve-wracking, the dances we had to learn were taught by the current girls of the squad - the ones we really wanted to impress. The choreographers were immediately on the squad. No one had to audition again. (That rule was changed later on). And these girls were GOOD.
I remember talking to a guy I had a crush on the night before auditions. I remember, because his words to me pushed me for the next four+ years. I told him I was auditioning in the morning and he said, "Yeah, good luck with that. I don't think you'll make it."
I secretly wanted to cry (mostly because it was a supposed CRUSH that said this to me) but I did the opposite - I said, "I'll prove you wrong."
And not only did I prove him wrong, but I went on to become Captain of the team my Sophomore year and Choreographer my Junior and Senior years. And I did it with my friends right there, dancing beside me.
Our coach for our Freshman year I thought was a complete bitch. She seemed to always be yelling at me - "Work harder! Don't stop moving! It's two turns not one, Sarah! Head UP on SEVEN, not eight!" Just... on and on and on and on. When I made it into my Sophomore year, I realized that her yelling turned to praises of "GOOD, Sarah!! Nice turn!" It was then that I realized that at first I thought she was like my crush - negative. But then I realized, she was just pushing me because she knew I could do better. I could BE better. And I was! THAT was why I was Choreographer. THAT was why my routines became harder and more complex - I continually pushed myself. Because of them.
I didn't try out for the Indiana State's dance team, though I know I could have and would have probably made the team. My creativity went elsewhere - it went to Theater. My love for art will always be apparent. And it was, as I took up a Dance minor, which eventually transferred as Theatrical Dance.
And from there, I performed in several productions, dancing with the Theater's dance company, Fusion.
(I'm in the middle - Fusion: Dance of the Sun rehearsal)
I learned to push myself even further with dance - in the above picture, my "spirit animal" for the show was a polar bear. So I studied heavy movement in different martial art forms to move like my given animal. I also performed in a Commedia Del'Arte style mask production (along with a class we had to take to be in it) and I learned how to express certain emotions through body language, conveying messages that a particular mask evoked. That is how I became the love-crazed, wanna-be flamenco dancer, Escondida:
(Escondida - Pageant of Wonders, part of Poison, Poets and Other Wonders)
I took dance classes in college, but mostly because I had to (for more than obvious reasons). But my love for dance will forever live deep inside me and I will always, always, always be that girl dancing in the darkness of her room, where no one can see.
