I Dance Pretty

I Dance Pretty

 

            “I dance pretty” is the quote that I have on all of my binders and that my friends and classmates know and love. It is a quote that I came up with for a tee shirt design in ballet class. It did not win and no big surprise there, but it still is a great spirit lifter, comical joke, and inspiration to me even though it was harshly rejected as a tee-shirt. Even though I love to dance, there are some days that I am not felling the power, at all.

            The reason for which there might come a day that I would feel like this is greatly because of the immense difficulty of the art in which I pursue. It can be extremely frustration at times and the difficulty, athleticism, and beauty of ballet and dance is greatly underestimated by society. The goal in dance is to make the steps your doing look easy and effortless and I think that it this could be a significant reason for the underestimation of the art. The art form is living in the shadow of more popular activates like watching football or sports. An example of this is that my own father had never seen a ballet performance before I started dance but has watched countless sports games. This represents most of the non-arts community through America. They are really missing out on the beauty of ballet.

            For the rest of the population and arts community who have taken advantage of the art form, it can really have a great impact on someone’s life. It has inspired me to contribute to the art form and present and give my art to those people watching in the audience. It has also installed a very powerful motivation, drive, and work ethic to succeed in everything I do. Ballet has also put me through a rough, rocky road and character building process due to the endless stereotypes about male ballet dancers. To name a few: all male dancers are gay, ballet is for girls only not guys; making male dancers rejects of society (especially in children), and guy dancers are just weird. Besides this, ballet has most importantly given me a leisure activity that I love to participate in on a regular basis. I love the athleticism involved in the jumping and lifting in the art form. It is a great way to stay fit and active every day. I also love the performing aspect of it, performing is worth all the hard work.

            Connor W