When drama is happening around the studio or the larger dance world, I like to joke that “we’re not curing cancer.” I mean, we’re not. And much of the politics of dancing IS trivial.
But while I don’t perform heart surgery or do life-saving research, I know the service I provide to people is important.
I could cite the myriad of studies that supports ballroom dancing as an amazing mental, social, and physical activity, but you’ve probably shared a bunch of them on social media already. (But you could read this one from the National Institute of Health, or this one from the New England Journal of Medicine, or this article from Harvard Medical School, in case you need something to do.)
The fact is I know I’m not an essential business. In a time of emergency, being able to accurately set the tempo to “Stayin’ Alive” to do chest compressions is about all I got.
Ballroom dancing is a distraction, an escape, an interruption from our students’ lives. But I’ve had students deal with all sorts of horrible things over the years and yet they prioritize their time at the studio so they can unplug from their sadness, depression, grief, loneliness, frustration, fear, or anxiety. And it sounds so trivial when I want to end that sentence with “by getting on the dance floor”, but it’s true.
A lot of dancers have solitary jobs that make their time at the studio their main social gathering of the day, the proverbial water cooler. Many have sedentary jobs and use dancing as their fun, but effective workout. Some need a diversion from their high-pressure jobs, or are older and looking for mentally-stimulating, balance-improving exertion.
Whether it’s to see their friends (and make some), get healthy movement in for the day, have some positivity, or just not think about their daily life for an hour, ballroom dancing has provided an essential part to many of our students’ lives.
Professionals everywhere are worried about their students: their progress, their mental state, their boredom. Instructors worth more than my salt are giving away virtual lessons left and right. We’re struggling with ways to keep you dancing without being in front of you in dance frame because we know you need it. We’re not sitting back with our feet up eating bon-bons living off our savings. We’re very worried about making rent and bills and payroll and yet for most, that's actually secondary because we know you all want to dance. NEED to dance.
I hope you all know we miss you terribly and hope you're doing okay.
We'll get back to the dance floor together soon.
And then I'll really want to earn this mug.
