Personal Narrative: The MRHS Dance Team

Outside of medicine, I spend my leisure time dancing and choreographing. My love for dance and music stems from my early childhood. I recall listening to Disney songs and “choreographing” dance moves – moves that appeared as uncoordinated, but exquisite loose wiggles. As a result of my parents’ high expectations and strict upbringing, dance was an important activity because it served as a safe haven away from the stress and pressure I felt as a child. Dancing was, and is still, my source of joy and amusement.

For over a decade, I stood at the same barre in front of the same mirror, and I watched myself change. Without my knowledge, ballet began to shape me as a person. Because of the grueling hours spent refining my technique, I developed discipline. Despite the hard days of practice, I never gave up. My body learned as well, and my muscles still contain the leanness of a dancer. Whenever someone compliments me on my ability to tie my hair into a bun on the top of my head, I always smile conspiratorially.

I had just moved to Washington state and I auditioned for the local dance studio’s competition team for fun. I had no idea how talented they were. And I was just an untrained recreational dancer…Not surprisingly, I didn’t earn a coveted spot on the team it the first time I auditioned. That didn’t stop me from training seriously and auditioning for the team each year until I made it. And here I stand, now starting on my sixth year on the team and as one of the last people from my original team who decided not to quit when they started high school. Dance isn’t just twirling around in pretty pink tutus. What the general population doesn’t picture when they think of dance is the tremendous amount of strenuous work and the blood and sweat and tears that goes into every performance and competition. Certain dancers can’t handle it and quit when they realize they don’t have the passion. My passion keeps me living and breathing and most importantly, dancing, when times get

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it so my mother allowed me to quit. Then a few years later when I was in fourth grade I saw that my elementary school had a dance team/drill team and it looked like tons of fun. I then realized that dance seemed like a hobby that I would enjoy. So my mother let me tryout as long as I promised not to quit. Of course I made her that and I auditioned for the next dance season and made it. I was extremely shocked that I had been asked to join the team seeing as I had no previous dance experience. Now ever since that moment dance has been more than just a hobby for me. I continued to dance through the rest of elementary school. However I did discontinue when I reached middle school due to my mother getting divorced and my family and I moving to a different town. I did try tumbling and cheer for a while, but it wasn’t befitting. I recognized I did not have a connection to tumbling and cheer like I did with dance, and that’s when I realized dance was my passion. After I came to this realization I auditioned for my high school dance team and this was the point in my dance career where I became extremely involved and also when I began to take it more seriously. I began to take it more seriously because at this point in my life I was out of shape and my body was not built to be a dancer. This was because during the time my mother had gotten divorced it was a difficult transition and I

“Don’t worry, we’re both gonna do great!” I explained, even though I was nervous too. That was the day we were finally trying out for competitive dance at our dance studio, Bleker’s. Bleker’s used to do competitive dance years ago, and finally, after I had been dancing there for 9 years, they started to do comp again!

My mouth hung open as I watched the gorgeous, graceful girls leap and twirl across the gym floor during their annual summer mini-camp. From that point forward, I knew that I wanted to be a Chiefette. I studied up on the history of the team, watched every one of their public performances, and enrolled in dance team preparation classes. Each year, the Chiefettes got better and better, and during each dance, their pirouettes and jetes grabbed my heart and carried me with them through their emotional journey. Their movement quality astounded me; I wasn’t exactly sure how a team of so many girls could dance in unison with seemingly effortless grace. I knew from talking to the girls on the elite team that they maintained excellent grades, participated in other school activities and sports, and volunteered within the community. These girls were my idols, and I thought that the only way to have a positive high school experience was to join the dance team. There was no question in my mind that I would be on the team all four years of high school, and because I had prior dance experience, that I would be one of the better dancers on the team. Throughout middle school, I dreamed about the day when I would finally be able to call myself a Chiefette, but I soon realized that I had no idea the amount of hard work and talent that it took to earn that

An extracurricular activity that I have had the pleasure to take part in for the past five years is the Greenwood College School dance team. Starting off as a new and young member of the team, I often faded in the background and followed the instruction of senior students, showing up to practice and doing the dances as told. During my first two years, in addition to being in various senior choreographed routines, I choreographed a dance alongside girls in my grade, an experience that gave me a basis of teamwork skills including compromise, commitment, open mindedness, reliability and creativity. After I became an experienced member of the team, the coach offered me a position as the team coordinator which I happily accepted. For the past two

Everyday, I go into the studio and hear a generous hello from a staff member. If the vibrant dance bags, and leather jet black couches do not make you feel at home, then the dancers will. Mallory Flores is an intern and dancer of 15 years at Encore Studio, and thinks Encore’s sense of community is what makes everyone feel at home whenever they step onto the dance floor. Not only does the sense of community keep the dancers going, but it keeps the business running, as Karen Flores stated she loves how “the people she sees come in and out of the studio have a constant positive energy radiating off of them”. Yet, being at the studio for up to fourteen hours a week for some dancers does not keep them from coming in and enjoying the curriculum taught in class. Not only does it drive the dancers to come to class, but it keeps the teachers motivated to continue to put out their best work too. Angelina Gallo thinks that “The dancers at Encore are so passionate, they are kind, they are genuinely good people… I think a lot of this stems from the dance training and the people that they are surrounded by on a daily basis. The students are my family.” which shows why everyone feels the constant state of security within the

The phone rings. My mom steps up from her worn office chair and grabs her cell phone.

These past two years have been crammed with so much new knowledge and understanding of dance that I could never be taught at a studio, for example, I have been told many times about my neck being pushed forward if I can recall I was called “turtleneck” but that's beside the point just knowing that I started to notice other things that aren’t correct with myself and I have been able to start fixing it which improved the quality of my dancing tremendously.

Our team sat in the hallway of our school, waiting for our name to be called to enter the gym. The pregame jitters were everywhere. Girls were bouncing up and down, fanning themselves and skittering around. I had a flood of emotions inside me. I was mostly excited but also quite nervous. What if my parents didn’t like the dance? What if my peers don’t like the dance? What if it looks bad? I couldn’t help but doubt the routine in a time of such nervousness. Our coach gave us each her routine good-luck shoulder shakes, and I knew the time had come. I heard the crowded gym fall quiet.

Since the early age of four, I have been mesmerized by classical ballet. Every week, I watched my dance teacher display her beautiful skills during class, and I hoped that I could dance as well as her someday. As my love for ballet continued to grow, my opportunities widened. In the fall of 2013, I became a member of the dance ensemble at the dance studio I attend. When I joined the Pointe Academy Dance Ensemble, my position at the dance studio shifted from being a student dancing in the back of the room, to a dancer who learned how to teach others and set a good example for younger students. To me, being a role model and using acquired experience to inspire and guide others is leadership. My dance ensemble has been my most meaningful leadership experience because it is the source of where I have become a leader.

The choreography of Danielsen’s life goes far beyond the corners of dance. Ever since the day she stepped foot into a dance studio, she has had big dreams and lets nothing stand in her way of accomplishing them. “I saw myself as a prima ballerina, but when I actually started to dance, my dream turned into being able to execute well and being able to perform in any

Picture a casual day in the life of an ordinary girl: going to school in the mornings and performing her chores during the evenings. Now, reorient this to a day where she lacks of time to balance homework and sleep as pulling all-nighters is a quotidian activity where the exclusive task is to execute all her responsibilities. This vigorous alteration portrays how my life has changed in the preceding years. Antecedently, I was able to attend Orland Ballet's Summer Intensive. Challenging my daily living, I was chosen to dance with Ballet Concierto's professional dance company. Subsequent years later, I am able to face the challenges to come.

Somewhat predictably on the day of dance auditions, after not being able to reach my toes, I reconsidered perhaps slightly too late, this may not have been an appropriate idea. Briefly introduced to our choreographer, we began to dance to the song, “Stay” by Alessia Cara. Having a solid grasp memorizing the dance, the choreographer