This is Believe
One of the earliest memories I have as a child was quality time I spent with my father. The earliest recollection I have was when I was about 10 months old, I remember I could not walk, as a matter of fact barely even talk. I remember my father sticking a baseball glove on my left hand, and a baseball in my right hand. This was basically when my kinesthetic education started.
All throughout my life I grew up being very competitive person and playing a cornucopia of sports, such as basketball, football, soccer, and my favorite baseball just to name a few. I also have many memories as an adolescent living in Mexico; I have fond memories of being a teen and going to the disco with my Aunties, which consequently instilled in me a love of dance and music. Then I moved back to the United States to continue my high school education. There I played baseball all four years of my high school carrier.
Baseball was my passion, and more than that it was my life. I got spectacular grades just so I could play baseball and here my coaches praise for being a good student. I was such a nerd, that in 2004 I could name you every single starting player for every single team that is in the major league baseball. Then in 2005 I graduated from high school and that was the end of baseball carrier. This was a very tragic moment in my life, not only had I lost many friends that I had acquired in those four years, but more than that it was the end of my world as I knew it.
I fell into a period of nostalgia, because for a year and a half my life was nothing but school and work. Then I meet one of my good friends through his brother. He was very passionate about dance, and from that moment on my good friend and choreographer Darren Ohanian rekindled the fire that my Aunties had instilled in me as an adolescent. It was a way for me to express my creativity on a kinesthetic level. Before dance, the way I would express my creativity was I would give my heart and soul on the baseball diamond.
At first I thought that dancing was a great way to pick up girls and not to mention a way to have a good time. But now that I have had much more time to contemplate what dance really means to me. I am well are and now realize that there is much more that meets your eyes when it comes to every single step that is put into a dance. At first I started learning some hip hop dance steps, and then I mustered up the courage to take a class at my local city college.
I enrolled into a modern dance class, and to be quite frank with you I did not like it at all. I figured that I would give it a chance to see what the class had to offer. After taking this class I would have to say that this class brought a different perspective and changed what dance, art, and freedom means to me.
Now that I have had some time to really think what it means to me. I am aware that there is a rich cultural tradition in every step you take; whether it is Rancheritas, Ball room, Modern, or Hip Hop.
One can look though time and in every single culture or society that has ever existed dance is one the themes that all cultures have in common. Around the world we can see that dance not only bonds people but is a clear representation of one’s culture and traditions.
Dance is a true art form because it uses all realms of the creative mind. The visualization of being able to see steps that can be put into a dance that can have a deep emotional impact on all who watch. Also the intricate movements that essentially come from one’s soul which is in no way bias, it is simply you feeling and expressing whatever sentiment you have at that moment.
The best part of dance is that there is no right or wrong it is all about what one wants to portray with one of the purest forms of expression. The best way for me to express what dance means to me is as follows: Dance is Freedom!