Application Essay: My Journey Into The Commercial Dance Program

My love for music has always been coupled with an interest in dancing. At the age of four, I learnt to dance from Shakira; I watched her videos and imitated her till I felt like we were doing the same thing. I kept getting better, and soon, I would go to birthday parties just for the purpose of thrashing everyone else in dance competitions. My love for dance has only seemed to intensify over the years. Looking at me now, I still do almost the same thing: download dance videos and learn the choreographies.

My whole life changed on October 29 of 2012. Before this date, I was just practicing hard like any other dancer would. Two days a week and two hours a day, sweat, sore muscles, and all my work poured into my dancing. Dancing provides knowledge, emotion and dedication. Recognizing that I have built that from when I was young is a huge feeling of accomplishment, like the first time riding a bike without training wheels.

I entered my ideal middle school. Neither of my parents had ever mentioned dancing ever since I made the decision of giving up. I had never danced anymore. Actually, I avoid every activity about dancing intentionally, but automatically paid attention to dance dramas. On one side, I couldn’t forgive myself for making such a capricious, impulsive decision. On the other hand, the heavy schoolwork made me too busy to dance

The dance community that surrounds me has been the most impactful in my life. My mother first signed me up for dance classes when I was only four years old, and now almost fifteen years later I am still dancing. I started out at a dance studio in Gresham, Oregon, where I then danced for ten years. I took classes, performed, and started competing against other dancers and studios around when I was nine years old. It didn’t hit me that I enjoyed performing until I started dancing in more and more shows. Dance was a struggle for many years at this specific studio. There was a lot of moves that I couldn’t do, and I got left behind, as the other dancers my age improved and became more flexible. I felt like I owed the teachers, staff, and other

Dance has always been a part of my life, whether it was from the first day my mom taught me salsa in the family room to now performing in front of huge crowds around my community. Whether its ballroom, west coast, or country, I have been able to express myself in ways that I never thought possible. Through my commitment and perseverance I strive to become a better and more knowledgeable dancer every day. I continue to learn new things and search for opportunities to widen my horizons and interact with the dance community. My passion grows with me as I grow as a dancer and I hope to be able to share that passion with others for the rest of my life.

During that month of sitting out of classes during my recovery, I discovered how much dance meant to me. I didn’t realize how much I truly loved to dance until it was taken away.

For the first time, I dreaded going to ballet class, and tried to get out of it as much as possible. That worked for the first couple weeks telling my mom I had an overload of homework, but soon she started getting suspicious. She told me if I didn’t go to class, she would pull me out of dance all together. This was a wake up call. I definitely did not want to give up on this sport because it had been with me my entire life. So, the next week I walked into class with an open mindset. Surprisingly, the class went quite well! During the class, my teacher told us the theme of our recital dance. This year was going to be variation of Swan Lake. I was thrilled! I always dreamed of dancing in this classical and memorable ballet. I knew there was only going to be a few select leads, and if I wanted to be one of those girls, I needed to get over my plateau. So, at every opportunity I practiced strengthen my pointe work, stretching while doing homework, and keeping track of my corrections from class. Hours upon hours, through the bruises, blood, and blisters I dedicated my time to dance. My classes were finally going well, and I felt as if I rose out of my plateau stronger than the girl I was before.

I dance every day, I read every night, I study every day, I rehearse every day, and I live the best I can every moment of my life. This constant rotation is continuously happening, I have no choice but to develop my approach in how I view my artistic and educational goals. I’ve grown more as a person, learning how to deal with issues while still staying sane. Being here getting a B.F.A degree thus far, has helped me grown in how I think, view dance, and how I study. Again I can never say the program has changed me, I will never change, but the program has helped me grow and improve in what I already

I love dancing, I have such a deep passion for this activity. Although there was a time that I was not sure of my passion and love. I have danced since I was able to walk and my parents put me into classes when I was eight. I was ecstatic and overjoyed everyday I could go to the dance studio. However, in eighth grade my dance studio did not do too well at the competitions we attended. At nationals we didn't place top ten for any of the dances we preformed, I felt so defeated and unsure of my love for the sport anymore. Since we did so bad that year my mother refused to re enroll me in classes the following season.  I gave up on my dream of becoming a dancer and started to doubt my talent all together. That year one of my best friends introduced

A year into dance, I still felt very behind compared to my peers; additionally, my family decided I should move to a new dance studio. No longer having my best friend there, boosting my confidence, forced me to contemplate if I was going to continue doing what I loved regardless of the extra

My only dream during my childhood days was to be a classical dancer. I fancied the look of my friends, seniors when they would get into the whole getup and their change over to a beauty. I took up a three-year diploma course in a dance form with passion along with my studies. Due to unavoidable circumstances, I had to change states for my intermediate schooling where my dancing career could not be pursued further and my focus was on school and studies. Subsequently, on reaching my hometown after my high school, I joined for an engineering degree.

I wanted to become a professional dancer. I was dedicated to dance for 13 years of my life and

She encouraged us to ask questions if we needed to, something that eased my mind slightly, but as she outlined the course of the class for the next month and the rigor of the technique and choreography we’d learn, that glimmer of hope soon went down the toilet. We went around the seated circle, playing the generally awkward, yet apparently obligatory game of introductions as the eight girls surrounding me talked about their twelve years of prestigious studios and teachers. The most socially mortifying moment of my life had to be when it was my turn, as I stumbled out the fact that I had taken one year of Jazz, a generous description for the six-month class I had taken on Basic Dance Fundamentals. The second the last word left my mouth, a quick shared look among the other dancers confirmed how they all felt about me: I was the weak link, that one person in every dance class who struggles and gets put in the back at the

But taking the long break from my jazz and ballet classes was going to be a really big problem for me. I forgot a lot of moves, lost a lot of flexability, and lost a lot of strength. So the first year was probably one of my hardest years in dance because I had to work on getting all that back and had to get the steps right on top of that. I absolutly loved every single thing about it though. I started to get sick of it again and then all of a sudden this kick of determination settled in, and I let it come with a warm welcome. This sudden change came about when I was roughly 11. I loved my ballet and jazz classes and I started to take the extra steps in practicing and trying to be the best I could be. Dance wasn’t so much hard anymore as it was tiring. The teachers started to notice it too. That’s when I moved up to Seniors and I felt so excited that I moved up. I moved up to where all my friends were and finally felt welcome to the company. The determination never stopped then 2 years after that I made it on Elite. At my dance studio there are three teams on the competing team. Junior, senior, and then elite. Moving on to elite was a huge deal to me. I am on the top team at my studio. Now we are moving to a more present time. I’m on elite and that determination still thrives. Dance is the best thing in the world. I go to dance almost everyday of the week and I even help teach classes there now. I live dance, breathe dance, and love dance. That

When I was only seven years old, I had decided that I was going to be a professional ballerina. My parents had enrolled me in the local dance lessons since I started walking and I fell in love with ballet right away. My friends and I would attend a dance group everyday after school and would travel to places on the weekends for competitions. Living in the suburbs, mommy, daddy, dance lessons, and me, I thought I had a perfect life and wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. We would enjoy the summer breezes, and the Long Island Beaches; it was a true American dream until all good things come to an end.