What Is Non-Embodied Identity

Two years into the competitive dance world I felt like a machine.I wanted to have my own style,and to be an artist so I left my home-studio and became an independent dancer.Being an independent dancer gave me the opportunity to find my style and who I actually am.While I was finding my own style, simultaneously my personality shifted from close-minded and analytical to optimistic,quirky and outgoing.I found myself hanging out with my friends more,and trying new things, crafting in particular.Exploring the different realms of dance showed me who I genuinely

I used to love dance class. I was never any good at it- just watch me walk and you’ll notice how clumsy I am- but it was still one of my passions. I had been taking a dance class since kindergarten, and when I moved to Fort Thomas in first grade, it was one of the constants in my life. Every Tuesday, I would pack up my pink dance bag, put on my leotard and tights, and jump into my mom’s car to be taken to practice. Excitement would bubble through me every single time- for a while, at least.

Strictly Ballroom shows that the desire to establish identity often revolves around rebellion and breaking free from the group. This involves courage and the development of self. To truly belong means being able to be ourselves. Within the Ballroom Dancing community, there is a clear indication that there are people who do not

Ballet has been the focus of my life since the beginning of my memory. My earliest memory is watching my older sister, Elise, in ballet class at the Rec Plex through that huge glass wall that separated me from the girls in leotards, and begging my mom to let me join them. When I think about ballet, the first thing that comes to mind is my first recital: when I was the first butterfly on stage flapping my arms in the middle of the stage all by myself for a few seconds until the next girls joined me, wearing a pink and purple leotard and tutu, feathered butterfly wings, and a stupid smile. As I have grown up, my dancing has reflected the feeling I have toward myself. In elementary school, I saw myself ahead of the pack; my ego boosted with 100%

My whole life has been of dirty mirrors, old ballet shoes, and ripped tights. I was 5 years old and a beginner at a dance academy. I didn’t quite know what dance was when I got in, I thought it was just a place to spend time in and just enjoy the music they played. Over the years I learned that dance is way more than just a hobby or a place to go when you are bored. It is art, you are the one making art. Your feelings are the story to your dance, and your moves are the music. People will see your pain or happiness through these ways. Dance is not just a hobby, it’s an art, it’s something that you don’t actually have to throw music at when the steps and feelings you add are the music to your dance.

This chapter takes a broad look at the relationship between human movement, framed as dance, and important identities such as religion, ethnicity, gender, and social status. While not specifically focused on issues of identity in America, this chapter will provide an important foundation in understanding the broader scope of how dance can be seen as a representation of cultural values, which will underlie the remainder of our coursework.

This class helped me realize how ignorant I really was about the Asian American culture as well as the Native American culture. I generally believed that I was more culturally sound than I actually am. I believed that I knew more about these cultures than I really did and was shocked to realize that I fed into some of the stereotypes. I knew that Asian Americans did well academically because their parents valued education and had them study more than their peers, however I did not realize that culturally boys were expected to succeed more academically than girls were. I believed that girls were equally held up to a standard as boys were. Watching the film clips related to Asians and Asian Americans was an eye opening experience.

Completing the Identity Art Project made me think about the core elements of my life and what was really important to me. I felt somewhat similar to people in the class by sharing the same ethnicity, age, and hobbies as some. In a class of less than 35 it’s interesting to see the many people who are shares these common aspects as you. One reason why I feel different than my classmates are through their struggles. Many people in our class shared a touching story of the struggles they had to face and I can see how those struggles made them grow as individuals. It made me come to a conclusion where I believe I’m very sheltered compared to these people who had tough lives through suicide, divorces, or a missing parent. It made me realized even

I really enjoyed last class due to the palpable sense of comfort within our intragroup. While I am unable to reference a time wherein I have ever truly felt uncomfortable in the IGD space, Monday was unique because there seemed to exist a strong form of solidarity between each of the “non-white” students. Everyone present made it clear as to what they identified as, and there was no doubt directed towards anyone regarding their choice. Even when one student expressed their uncertainty about identifying as a person of color, she was assured of her legitimacy and belonging. I found this moment extremely powerful, especially due to my own insecurities about how I am racially perceived.

This course gives me an opportunity to learn and deep reflect in all my identities. All the identities that we covered in this course; such language, immigration, ethics, gender Language, and religion. Each of this identity identified who I am. When I was coming to this class I thought I knew all my identity development stage and did not think I am going to learn or develop new identities. Throughout all the reading of the this week's section I have read and the class discussion, I have connected the section of creating identity positive classroom. I truly believe that my identity would not exist if it wasn't for my parent creating a safe positive environment. I grew up with a community that had the same language, religion, and ethics as

I now write my name in all of my shoes and I have an extra pair in my bag, just in case. My dance studio reflects me as dancer, also. I dance at Miss Shelly’s School of Dance and have been since I was two years old. My mom tells me about my first dance class all the time. It was a few weeks before my younger brother was born and I had never done anything without one of my parents. My mom walked me into this new and unknown place and I was in my brand new pink leotard with my brand new pink tights and skirt. I had my tiny pink ballet shoes on my tiny feet and proudly walked through the door holding my mom’s hand in one hand and my adorable dance bag with a princess doing all five dance positions on it in the other. Once my mom let go of my hand to say goodbye I bursted into tears and would not let go of her leg. Miss Shelly came up to us and said, “give your mom one more big hug, the biggest, tightest hug you can, and then we are going to dance with our new friends! Does that sound okay?” So I did as Miss Shelly told me, but, as she closed the door, I ran back through to my mom in tears because she left

I have learned that it really is important to look for the silver lining in everything, and to look at the life with the glass is half-full perspective. We keep a daily journal in this class, and I love that I am able to express my feelings. In each of my entries, even if a day seems like it has been the worst day ever, I always try to look at what positive can come out of the bad. Another important class that I have taken is motivation. In this class, we learn that enthusiasm towards achieving our personal goals is worth the immediate satisfaction we feel afterwards. It makes me want to set many goals and plan my ways to achieve

Growing up, I never really found my niche of belonging. I bounced around from soccer teams to theatre camps to cheerleading teams and choir performances, never really finding anything intriguing me to stay put in one activity or sport. Going into high school, I felt out of place. Everyone had a group, a team, and a sense of belonging. I had signed up to take the dance class to earn a fine arts credit, and a sudden new - found passion had taken over my body, mind and life.

I feel like I learned a lot from this course. I think, overall, this course was very eye-opening and made me understand, and want to better understand, issues involving gender and how they effect society. I would say the one of the most important pieces of information I learned was just how much the idea of gender and gender roles influences everyday life. I had never really thought too much about the determents of gender or traditional masculine and feminine ideals before this class, and how we as a society promote and encourage the belief that a person’s gender or sex creates different innate, natural attitudes and attributes. Learning about how important society’s views of gender is, and how it affects the way we learn and think, makes me look at our culture in a different way. For example, before this class I never realized how much women are objectified and put under intense Photoshop in advertisements. This better understanding of the way society is helps me take a step back and look at our culture in a different way, and allows me to become more aware of the issues surrounding gender, sex, and the ideals of masculinity and femininity.

Throughout this semester of learning about women, gender and how they relate to society opened up my eyes. I always known about the problems within society about equality for women but I thought that was it. Being heterosexual I didn't see how some events could affect the LGBTQ+ community. I did not even know what asexual was until this semester. I also did not know people identify as other genders besides female and male, or sometimes no gender at all. Going through this course and learning all these different things I had no idea about really broaden my horizons. The key topics that opened up my eyes were feminism, sexualities, and genders. Focusing on these topics has helped me realize that my actions could have offered some people and it has helped me be more aware of how diverse our population really is.