I started out my dance journey as a freestyle dancer. Someone who purely danced for that freeing feeling that music gives me. Growing up in a Jamaican dance culture, it was all about individuality and dancing with girls. That was probably my first introduction to choreography, because I had to match the rhythms of the hips of the girl I was dancing with. Thinking about it now, I didn’t even know I was doing that; it just seemed natural.
Then after watching dance videos of Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, and my neighborhood Ghetto Boys Dance Crew I got hit with the dream of wanting to learn choreography.
I was a dancer that operated from a place of feel 100% of the time. I enjoy music so I didn’t even think about the rise and fall of an 8 count, slower rhythms as opposed to faster rhythms, the lyrical component of an artist, how a vocalist can change the feeling of music with words, tones, textures and so much more.
I thought the only way to dance was to feel music and let your body naturally move to that feeling. Then I started taking classes in my early 20s and realized that there was a whole new world I knew nothing about. A world that has brought me to the full circle of my dance journey.
I remember my first attempt at teaching choreography to my kids as a Hip Hop instructor at my 1st dance studio. I didn’t have no business teaching at that time because I barely knew anything about the relationship between music and choreography. I always go back and forth in my head trying to figure out what happened but I always ended up with this fact. I was not confident about my understanding of music or the ability to teach something I naturally feel, so I listened to voices that told me to simplify my movement to make it consumable for my kids. Which meant think of the most basic form of what I do as a dancer and teach that to my kids. However, I was skeptical of it and half way into the season I realized I made a mistake but could not make any changes because I didn’t know how to. Then I saw what that looked like on stage and for the first time in my life I couldn’t watch dance, especially something I created. I was embarrassed, disappointed, and upset at myself for not giving my students the authenticity of the knowledge as well as love I had for dance so that they could show that love on stage.
That is when my journey of learning music truly began. I worked harder at listening to music. I came earlier to the studio to take the beginner classes. So I took ballet classes with the adorable infant dancers, the jazz classes with the more seasoned dancers, the contemporary classes with the even more seasoned dancers and observed the tap classes because I didn’t own tap shoes. I needed to learn more about choreography so I did everything in my power get more familiar. I watched countless hours of instructional videos that broke down Hip Hop foundations and how they applied to music. Then I incorporated them into my library of movement by countless hours of practice.
Needless to say, the following year despite the disapproval of the few parents, and the concern of the studio owner with my new direction of instruction, I was able to appreciate what I created and taught my students. After that recital, I think they appreciated it too because it sure was a struggle for them to see that Hip Hop required just as much foundational work as ballet throughout the season. Though I would love for my kids killing the stage was the resolution to the climax of my dance journey, that was only the beginning.
To make a long story shorter, I spent so many years learning how to teach choreography that I often forget to teach what made me want to dance in the first place. That is that undeniable feeling that music gives you that makes you want to move. Now I teach with absolute appreciation of music and how it inspires movement that I naturally enjoy.
If dance is something you have a goal to learn recreationally, know that it is a journey and I believe in you. You do have to enjoy music and be brave enough to enjoy your own movement regardless of what others think. However, if your goal is to become a best dancer you can be, then a high level understanding of music as well as your natural connection to music is necessary to reach your goal.
That has been my full circle realization. My career as an instructor reflects my journey with music. I taught dance in respects to my level of understanding of music for many years. Now I’m back to where I started, loving how music makes me move and appreciating why it makes me feel the way I do. Lastly, being in a position to share that on a weekly basis is the absolute best feeling in the world.