What Doing Different Types of Dance Has Taught Me
By Bethany Lynch, DWC Ambassador | pronouns: she/her
I started dancing at what some would consider a “late” age, when I was 15 years old.
I often wonder what it would have been like if I hadn’t started with ballet. If I had started with hip hop or jazz or freestyle would I still feel like I had started late and that I wasn’t good enough, or is that just the nature of ballet? We’ve always heard that if you don’t start learning the technique when you are three years old, you will never be successful. Is it the same for other styles? Or was it the pressure I put on myself? Would the insecurity have been different? I guess I’ll never know. I’m glad I was able to move on and find what was a good fit for me.
I am now 25 which means it’s been 10 years since I started dancing. I have had the opportunity to try out many different styles of dance, some for longer than others, but regardless, here is some of what each style has taught me.
Ballet
Ballet has always had the reputation of being super strict, vigorous, and dare I say at times toxic. While I think a lot of this is true, I believe each type of dance is more than the specific style, but also the people and community within the genre. A lot of the times the things that make us continue with or quit dance are the environments and the people in them.
Though I only had a few years in high school at the studio I first started at, I feel lucky to have had a very kind and supportive person as my first teacher. One thing I remember specifically from her was her emphasis on safety. People complained when she wouldn’t let their kids en pointe at a certain age, but she was very careful and honest about one’s strength and ability and if she didn’t think it was safe, she wouldn’t let them join the class. This also helped me realize that age wasn’t an indicator of skill level and that it’s important to be patient. Another thing that ballet has taught me is the importance of repetition. It can be boring and grueling, but building that “muscle memory” has helped me tremendously in my dance now. From learning basic, foundational steps (ex. pas de bourrée, plié, etc.) and the vocabulary along with them, I’ve been able to translate this knowledge into the other types of dance I do. Although I have so much to thank ballet for and it has taught me so much, it also taught me that ballet is not for me - it wasn’t designed with bodies like mine in mind. Though my overall experience was positive, I still faced issues that many other young girls and women face. I felt insecure with my body and discouraged because I didn’t start dancing at a younger age.
Contemporary
Though I took some contemporary classes in high school, I feel like I didn’t start understanding or exploring this dance style until I was in college when I decided to study dance. I remember the first time I was in class and they wanted us to IMPROV. I was absolutely terrified and didn’t know what to do. But, my teacher gave me encouragement and an ever changing array of prompts: open ended questions, explorations, words, emotions, textures, colors, partners to dance with; until eventually movement would flow and after a few sessions I really enjoyed improving. Contemporary taught me that it’s okay to be weird, and that not everyone is going to look the same when dancing, even if they are doing the same choreography. Contemporary has technique but is less strict than ballet and allows our movement to be more free-form. Contemporary is also the first style I started choreographing in. It helped me find ways of moving that I love and how to listen to music, feel the sun on my face, play with shadows, do the opposite of my instincts, and so many other ways to follow inspiration and move creatively.
Hip hop Choreography
I had been watching videos of hip hop inspired choreography for years until I finally took a class. I started this style of dance when I was in college but truly feel I didn’t start learning, training, and growing until this past year - my first year out of college. I think hip hop has taught me more discipline than any other type I’ve done before. I’ve learned that for each class I take, I get out of it however much energy I put in. This type of choreography has taught me musicality, choreo retention, what it really feels like to go “full out”, history, how important it is to recognize where different dance styles come from, and just like ballet, how important and valuable it is to know the basics and foundations.
K-pop
If there is one thing doing K-pop dances has taught me, it’s how to HAVE FUN. I have listened to the music genre since I was 10 years old and dancing to K-pop has shown me what it’s like dancing to music you really, really love and how energizing it can be. The fun I have when dancing in this style has allowed me to feel carefree and given me the ability to add facials into dance, which then, in turn, helped me with hip hop. Another unexpected skill K-pop dances has given me is the ability to learn choreography and formations from just a video. Most of the time you don’t get a teacher when learning K-pop dances. It’s you, your laptop, and the mirroring feature on YouTube! I have improved my visual learning and ability to switch movement from one side to the other.
Overall, doing so many types of dance has taught me that all dance is connected. Right now I am taking a class in a contemporary technique that focuses on floorwork and inversions, and a lot of the technique is reminiscent of breaking and some breakers even come to the class. I would be struggling in hip hop if I hadn’t built my foundations by learning things like a pas de bourrée. A lot of K-pop choreography takes inspiration from hip hop and hip hop helped me realize that when I’m covering K-pop dances, I don’t have to look exactly like the girl/boy group dancing, I can make it my own. The most important thing I’ve learned however, is that no matter what type of dance you choose to explore, it’s okay to be a beginner. It’s okay to mess up and it’s okay to have off days, because ultimately failure is a sign of growth.
“It’s okay to mess up and it’s okay to have off days, because ultimately failure is a sign of growth.”
