You Have a Bad Day

Athletes, students, and teachers– everyone has those days when you just feel a little off. Whether you aren’t performing to the best of your abilities, you can’t focus, or you really are just not feeling motivated, it happens to most of us as we go about our daily lives. With dance, I am usually able to stay relatively motivated because I love dancing so much and it serves as my main source of stress relief after a long day of classes. However, every once in awhile I can’t help but have a day when my body simply does not want to perform the tasks that my brain is telling it to. Tonight, definitely was one of those days.

Like every other Tuesday and Thursday, I attended rehearsal for my dance company tonight for about two hours. I was very excited because tonight was my turn to teach the class, and I had prepared a short combination to a song which I have wanted to choreograph to for a long time. Since Orchesis Dance Company is a student run organization, the officers organize a class schedule which girls can sign up to teach for on certain days. It works out very well, and it is a lot of fun to have a different teacher each week as well as experience a new style of dance and new perspective. Teaching the combination to my fellow company members went very well, but for some reason I was just not dancing as well as I know I can. It made matters even worse when I watched myself on the recording that one of the girls took of the combination, and I was not happy with the way I looked performing the combination.

After I returned to my dorm room tonight feeling a little gloomy, I had to consider why I dance and why I have chosen to continue pursuing dance throughout college. The answer is simple: because it makes me happy. I am not planning on pursuing dance as a career for the rest of my life; I am here at Penn State in order to receive a degree in industrial engineering. I am sure that I will have more nights like tonight when my dancing isn’t perfect, but it’s fine to not look perfect performing every single step in a dance combination. For me, dance is a personal experience, and I need to keep reminding myself that dance makes me feel great about myself even if there are days when I may not “look” great.

One response to “You Have a Bad Day

  1. This is inspiring, Carolyn. Through dance, you can keep the gloom at bay. Scientists have drawn many correlations between physical activity and release of endorphins; the “runner’s high” is one example. For some, video games or a movie night with friends is the sure way to get out of a funk; for others, a rigorous group activity (mentally or physically) is an effective method. Enjoy dancing, for all too often we lose track of the things we want to do.

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