Let Them Dance

It is mid February, not much to do in this area because of the very dreary and sometimes unpredictable weather we get here. We are capable of getting a snow storm in the middle of February and have already seen about two of them. I could not wait for this weather to change and show some signs of the beauty of spring that is just lurking around the corner. Often times we lose our power during these storms. We find ourselves seeking ways to entertain ourselves for what could be hours without lights, computers or T.Vs. Most of the time our entertainment comes in the form of the baby singing, rapping and dancing to the music playing on her sister’s IPod. At this point the baby has been trapped in the house for fear of her catching a cold because of the weather and I have dying to get her out of the house and into a class of some sort. She is a shy girl and needs to open up and get around people of her own age, so dance it is.

She smiles as she stands in first position with the balls of her feet turned out semi-completely. The heels touch each other and the feet face outward, as she tries to form a semi-straight line. Her arms curve as her elbows are slightly bent. Her hands rest in-front of her, with her fingers interlaced. This is my baby, just three years old but is learning how graceful and elegant a ballerina must be along with the other twenty or so girls that are in her class.

“Plié” her teacher yells to make sure that she is heard over the music that is playing in the background. She typically starts off the warm ups with a slow Beyoncé song like “Halo.”

I watch as she bends her knees and goes down. She loves to dance and she lights up, I can feel the emotions seeping from her body as she follows along with her class. She glances at me through the narrow glass I am peeking though just to make sure I am watching her. She gives me a quick wryly smile and a thumbs up. I give her one back and she focuses back onto her teacher.

Every morning just after nine a.m., after the sun has risen and most people’s day has already started, I get woken up to a little body climbing into my bed and a, “Good morning mommy, do I have dance class today?”

This has been going on since the very first class. She took a liking to her new found way of learning how to express herself, one that I have never seen in a child of her age. For her I do not think it is just about dancing, it seems more about her coming out of her box, her being able to interact and being free. Dancing has always worked in filling me up with emotions and the same goes for her.

My house was a little different from most. I had a peculiar childhood, the ones that most people do not care to articulate. I also have selective memory, so the two do not really go hand and hand. However, I do remember that expressing yourself did not include anything that made noise in my house. My mom worked two jobs so seeing her up was quite a challenge, but waking her up was forbidden. Me and my sister would have to divert ourselves and often did by playing with our dolls, going outside or watching television. We watch all kind of shows on T.V but our favorites were the ones where people danced, like Soul Train.

I remember watching people dance as a child and just sitting there so amazed, so emotional, so fervent to see what comes next. I could not wait. I could hear my heart beat as they would express themselves all over the dance floor. I would get up and dance along with them as I watched them on T.V. Dancing is astonishing to me. It is as marvelous to me as a football player hauling in a 29 yard touchdown reception with five seconds remaining in the last quarter, is to the football lover. I can feel the music speak through the body. I can feel all of the emotions that the face, arms, legs, back, stomach, hands and feet want to let out. I would sit in front of the television not willing to share it and try to mimic the dance moves as they were doing them. Ballet, gymnastics, tap, hip-hop, ballroom, I loved it all. I can hear my mother’s voice in the background as it started to get late, “Turn that television off and go to bed,” she would yell at me from the other room.

I was determined to stay up and dance some more and my grandma knew it so she kindly replied to my mother with, “Oh leave her alone and let her dance.” I never could have imaged what great meaning that would hold in my life then, but I know now.

Dancing has always been a form of emotional release, not just for me but for many. People dance for many different occasions, but all of them have the same purpose, release. An emotional release of anger, love, sadness, joy, serenity, faith and hope. I do not think many people care why they are dancing they just like to dance, just dance.

I often find myself just watching my daughters and hearing my grandma words echo in my head. All three of them have different activities that they do. Three very different girls but all have one thing in common. They just want to find a way to express their selves. My little daughter dances and she will just dances all over the place. She will sing and dance up and down the grocery store lanes, in a department store line, on our way to the car and back, in the car sitting down, in the bed, in the bath, she doesn’t care where she dances. All she wants to do is dance. Watching my daughter dance means more to me than graceful movement. It’s the love she has for it that constantly puts a smile on my face.

My oldest daughter has a love for softball. She loves to play and her energy about it is extraordinary. She practices four times a week, where everyone else does twice. In most recent games she has been playing in many positions. Sometimes she plays right on, but sometimes she a little off. Like every other parent that has a love for the sport and watching their child play, the games can become a little overwhelming. Most times I want to yell out when she is playing but often hear my grandma voice in my head telling me to “Leave them alone and let them dance.” It is a significant belief I live by these days no matter the interest that my children might embark upon.