Moving Again

In what feels like a former life, I used to be a dancer. I danced ballet with the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis (now the Ballet Theatre of Maryland) until high school. Once I got to high school I participated in my high school’s dance company, expanding into modern dance and contemporary styles. In college, I joined the Dance Team and performed at football and basketball games where I learned to do Russian jumps and switch leaps. I took ballet class my freshman year, but then dropped it because it was at 8:40am and once in a while I was lucky enough to be invited to dance in a piece for one of my dance major friends. I thought about changing my major to dance a few times, but never had the courage to do it. And after college, I started working and stopped dancing.

Yesterday, I took a dance class with a local dance company, Dragonfly Dance Experiment. The director of the company is a girl I went to high school with, Megan. I ran into her at the performance last week and she graciously invited me to come to her class. I couldn’t believe how strange it felt to move again. I knew it would be hard to get back in to dancing, but I had no idea how foreign the movements would feel. I had a wonderful time, even though my feet were cramping and I couldn’t pick up the combinations as quickly as I used to. All of her dancers were so nice and welcoming. I think that I faked it pretty good, but it was a struggle not to look like a complete fool.

Megan kindly told me that I have an open invitation to keep coming to class and watch their rehearsal. I will definitely take her up on her offer. I loved watching her dancers rehearse for their upcoming performance and I would love to just be part of their warm up as long as I don’t get in the way. It feels good (and a little sore) to be moving again.