Dance as an expression of your soul

My first ever interaction with art has been dancing. Since I was very little, for me this was the best way of letting go, of allowing my self to be lost and found again.

I first started dancing in front of my parents like everyone else, on silly childhood songs, with my parents applauding and laughing at my act.

Also when going with my parents to weddings, I was usually finding this very, very boring except for the few moments when my dad would grab me and dance with me. I usually would step over his feed a lot, but I was having so much fun.

Then, slowly growing I started just doing this alone in my room, in front of the mirror. From time to time, all the lights would go down, music would start playing and me dancing.

It was my favorite activity and it was most fun when I had other people dancing with me as well. My sister told me that one of her best New Year's Eves before she went out to college was one spent just with me, dancing both of us like crazy. Of course I don't remember it exactly as for me it was just another night of my favorite activity and every such night for me was special. But it warmed my heart knowing one special moment in my sister life is of the two of us dancing.

Dance is all about this, about pure love, about the soul coming to life and into expression and when that happens you can only feel good vibes.

No 'I am better', 'You are better' or 'the other is better', we just are and we manifest our selves in this dance together.

Then of course.. I started growing.. I still danced from time to time but not so frequent.

I never took dance lessons until I was already in college. And I might not even have started if it wasn't for a prize I won after subscribing to a dance school website. But I won.. a limousine ride with the winning dance crew of that year and after that, I started going to dance classes. You could say I was trying to make up for the years when I have not taken such classes, because I had a couple of months when I was going 4 times a week to 3 types of different classes.

It was really hard at first, to think my moves ahead while dancing as until then I only danced as my soul felt without any rehearsing, without thinking. It was strange but interesting. I understood after, that as you learned and practiced the moves they would become mechanic to your body, you wouldn't think of the moves, you would just move or the move would just pop in your mind and your body would just do it.

Another amazing part was meeting all these people with so much talent and so human and with such big hearts.

And there I was.. little but old me (most of my dance teachers were even younger than me) learning streetdance (breakdance, popping, locking, hip hop, reggaeton), a little bit of ballet, choreography, contemporary dance and a little bit of latin bachata and kizomba.

I also participated in flash mobs, which have such an extraordinary energy. And it is so much work behind the final act - weeks of training and perfecting even the simplest moves. Here is one of such flash mobs I participated in:

One other thing I loved about dancers is that they are comfortable with their bodies, even when their body is not perfect. They know it is their instrument. They know that exposing it does not make them vulgar, un-proper or obscene, it is their way of showing I accept and love my body and give it thanks and recognition. It is something that can be easily forgotten or objectified but they remind us of the truth. Dance and love your body even when it is not perfect!

I did not become a great dancer but I had fun and I still do. And as I said before, the best part was meeting extraordinary people, some that became very close friends.

All in all, the best 6 years of my life were when I was going to dance classes.

I abandoned going to classes when I needed to dedicate my self more completely to another project, but I kept dancing even alone, by my self in my room from time to time and also, of course, when going out with friends.

I recommend dancing to everyone, even if only when you are alone, by your self in your room. Let everything out, let your soul pour into movement, feel the music, let everything out, all the madness, all the none sense of this everyday life.

And if you enjoy it, in fact you cannot not enjoy it.. so if you want to elevate it to the next level, when you feel it is time - start taking dance lessons.

On Monday I am starting dance classes again.

PS: You can find below a song I love dancing on and which is all about dancing.