Sports: Dance

The Dance Chronicles
By Thando Mlambo
My relationship with dance has always felt like a game of hide and seek. My body, my mind and my soul never seemed to agree on what to do, but my body always succeeded on moving to prove my mind wrong and my soul always pulsated louder than the two.
It all began in 1997. I was in the second grade and loved watching music videos, mostly RnB and Hip-hop videos with the dance breaks in them. I would memorize the choreographies and teach my friends. By fifth grade I was teaching even the older kids under the big oak tree on the playground, where my voice would be the soundtrack to whatever song I taught. At that time, Britney Spears and the likes of N’sync were the queen and kings of dance videos and made what I loved even more exciting, because everyone wanted to learn whatever new music video they released.
By high school, I got involved with dance crews during what was the “You Got Served” dance era where battling was the name of the game. We won battles and performed all over the city. I could never bring myself to learn choreographies. When someone else was teaching me, my mind would go blank and I was always the last to learn what we were doing for a performance, but somehow, when it came down to it, I would go and “smash the choreo” like it was my own on the day. They called me SK and DQ (Silent Killer and Dance Queen).
Over the years, I have watched what dance does to people. I have never been good with words, but the thing about the arts is that it creates other ways for us to communicate and live out life and of course is just a good way to keep fit as well.
It is honestly been an emotional journey because dance gives me life, and doing it makes my soul leap. Korea has been exactly the same. It all catches up with you.
If you ever want to dance with me, we have classes three times a month at Movin’ Up Dance Studio, downtown (across from the ACC Bus Stop). My next class will be on October 22 from 2-4 p.m. Join our Facebook group “GPP Dance Troupe” for more information. You can also catch my choreography in the upcoming “Little Shop of Horrors” musical in November.

Moving Meditation
By Joshua Wright
For the last 13 years I have been dancing and preforming, I have been able to come closer to a more in-depth “knowledge of self.” Dance is a powerful form of meditation. When dancing, not performing, we are able to look inside ourselves to realize what we are able to do and what we want to do. We are able to find our limits and find the perfect way to push them. We are physically able to project our thoughts, emotions and intentions without having to suffer through verbal obstacles. Through performance we are able to be the moving mirrors and reflective surfaces for our audience’s intentions and emotions so that they too can be brought into thought.
Dance and a dancer’s intention and presence can provoke thought and at times are able to encourage dialogue about current world happenings. I believe dancers are a physical, dynamic and moving representation of what artists, musicians, poets and painters want to project into the world. Above all, I believe all people have the capability to dance and express themselves.
Dance is an activity that allows you to learn and develop skills not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. In the process of learning how to dance, we are able to learn about ourselves. When learning couple dances, such as salsa, merengue, kizomba, bachata, modern duet pieces and other dance forms, we are able to learn how to “listen and respond with respect” to others around us. When dancing with a partner, the encompassing goal is to become a fluid and expressive unit. The beauty of becoming this unit is that not only are those around you enthralled, but you and your partner have subconsciously and non-verbally created a way to communicate to one another, and also together “speak” to those around you.
We as humans are full of amazing stories to tell and deeds to perform. I believe that that forms of dance, music, visual art, spoken word and written word flow through every being’s veins for the sole purpose of expressing one’s self to the fullest. Our only task is that we have to explore and discover those gems of expression for ourselves. As I always say, “Ultimately, we are fully capable of being the captains of our own ‘ships.’”