When I asked my mom why she signed me up for dance classes, she looked at me a bit sheepishly, and then replied,
“Well Lainy, you were a bit… um… chunky… and well, klutzy.”
Thanks Mom.
That may have been the start for me but it definitely isn’t why I dance now. Thinking back to those days in my black leotard with my pink ballet tights and slippers, I can’t say for certain why I liked going to dance so much.
I started dancing at the age of 8 for one hour a week on Friday evenings in the basement of St. David’s Church in Woodstock. I had an incredible teacher, Miss Lilliane, who greeted each and every dancer with a huge hello from the moment they walked in the door. She made magic for every student who walked into that basement.
Dancing then, now seems like sort of a dream. A place where I came once a week to fly my butterfly wings during warm up and to squish the stinky bugs in tap class. It was a place to be free and a place to be me.
I danced because I wanted to.
Fast forward a couple of years and Miss Lilliane would no longer be able to teach due to health concerns and I was forced to move to a different studio. Dance began to mean something else at this new place.
The mirrors were shiny, the barres were polished and the floors were springy! This is what a Dance Studio (yes, capital D and S) looks like. I certainly wasn’t in the basement of a church now. At this new studio I was soon swept up for their competitive team — not that I had any idea what that meant at the moment.
My reasons for dancing began to change as the hours I danced increased. Dance was no longer about playing pretend and dressing up in costumes (although, that is still the best part!) Dance was a form, an art and a sport. It could be studied and produced to capture so many more emotions then I could ever experience by myself. Dance became the place to think and feel whatever I pleased. Dance was the place to either dive into my own emotions or the place to escape to when I had enough feeling for one day. I could pour my heart in to that piece about falling in love for lyrical or I could forget about all the boy drama and perfect those pirouettes. Dance was both the outlet and the escape.
I danced because my feet could speak the language of my heart.
As like most things, my time at the studio had to end as university drew near. Luckily for me dance could still come with me.
Dance at university is quite a different experience than anything I had encountered before. Dance at this new place was not just something to do like a hobby, it was something to be studied, to be talked about, watched and performed and everything in between. Dance was no longer a hobby, it consumed my every waking moment and I loved it. Dance became a part of my every day ritual and I could experience it with all these other over-glittered, over-excited dancers who soon became some of my very best friends. Waking up and heading to the ballet barre with my best friends – what could be better than that? At university dance settled into my heart in the most permanent way.
I danced because it was my life.
Now here we are, Miss Lainy, Owner and Artistic Director of Footprints Dance Centre. What does dance mean to me now? Dance is the safe place for our students — somewhere they can be themselves and express what they need to continue on their own journey. Dance can be where you meet your next best friend. Dance can be the place where you conquer your fears. Dance can be your release and your escape. Dance can be so many things.
But for me, I still like to go back to the time I danced one hour a week in my black leotard with pink ballet tights and slippers.
I dance because it’s the place I feel most like me.
Over the holidays we always ask our dancers why they dance. For some the answer is simple — “It’s fun.” Others end up writing us an entire list about why they dance. Whatever the reason, we want you to share it with us!
Simply follow the simple instructions below:
1) Grab a piece of paper.
2) Write “I dance because…” at the top
3) Tell us your reason!
4) Snap a picture of yourself holding your paper.
5) Send in your picture to the studio (e-mail [email protected] OR text 519-532-4905 OR direct message us on Facebook or Instagram)
Then we will post your photo on our online social media, as well as making it part of our display in the studio!
Looking for a little inspiration? Check out the Huffington Post’s article interviewing 39 of the greatest dancers of our time for their reasons.
Or check out this video by BBC News about the Ballerinas of Cairo, who are taking back the streets of Cairo with the power of dance.
