Perseverance
For the Love of Dance
Perseverance can sometimes be hard to do. Last year in the beginning of September, 2016, I had to use a lot of perseverance when I was joining a new competitive dance team. The hardest parts were meeting new people and learning new/harder dance moves.
First, I didn’t want to join a competitive dance team because it looked boring and I didn’t want to wear makeup, but when my sister joined I realized that it’s not all about makeup nor it’s boring. When I tried out, I was so nervous if I would make it or not. I soon made it on the team but I thought that I would never fit in because of how close all of them were. At this point, I had absolutely no perseverance. This struggle was mostly in between September-November.
As the months went by, I started to get to know the team a lot more. They treated me like a sister and made me feel very welcome. Most of them were more advanced than me, so I had to work harder. I kept telling myself, “You should’ve joined sooner, you suck, and you will never be able to dance like everyone else.” I went to bed that night thinking about all these negative comments. I tried to tell myself I’m going to get better but it didn’t seem to work. I asked my mom if I was ever going to get better, she said “Of course you are! You just have to work hard!” the words “work hard” echoed in my head. She was right, I had to work hard.
Next, I started to practice all the tiny combos we did in each class. I practiced a lot at home in my hallway to the kitchen/family room. I also continued to apply my corrections. I kept pushing myself, and I was determined to become the best dancer I could be. I was also getting stressed because I couldn’t find time for my homework since I was at the dance studio a lot. All I did was try to focus more in class and finish as much work as possible.
Finally, in between January-April, we started to make our competitive dance routines. I sometimes found them hard to remember so I asked my dance teammates to help me or I would play the music and go through the counts over and over until it was drilled into my brain. In April our dance showcase was around the corner. The dances I was showing was Jazz, Tap Ext. line, Hip Hop, Ballet and Open Ext. line. I was super nervous. I kept thinking “I’m going to make a fool of myself.” I told one of my teammates this and she told me “just move to the music and think positive.” I followed what she told me and I think I did pretty well. I only made one mistake, but if it wasn’t for perseverance, I would’ve not even made it on the stage.
All in all, I did really well and I got really good feedback. Some people said it didn’t even look like my first year dancing. I also started to become even closer not only to my team but with the whole dance studio. Throughout this tough time, I realized that lots of perseverance pays off. Not only that I love to dance but I love the people who welcomed me and pushed me to be the best I could be.
TDS WHAT!!!!!! By: Jasmine Llantada
