In a world that demands perfection, it’s a bold act to let yourself be messy. To let yourself express something authentic, versus what you think everyone else wants to see.
I could end the post right there, but I’ll share a little story to back it up.
In the studio with a private dance client yesterday, I was helping her develop a solo dance piece for our show next week. She had lots of ideas of what she wanted it to look like - there were props, costume pieces, and steps set to the music. But every time she went to dance it, she would stop and think. Something wasn’t flowing.
I asked her to think back to a recent dance video she had made - one in which she was moving freely and so like herself.
“What compelled you to make that dance video?” I asked.
“I was feeling all this sadness and didn’t know where it was coming from... I was craving a space to call home and didn’t know how to find it… so I danced.”
And then I asked her to pick a new song, one that spoke to her soul, and to improvise to it from where she was right there in that moment.
What happened after was beautiful to watch, vulnerable, and authentic.
She decided to scrap the idea of the complicated dance piece because she realized it was mostly driven by her head: by what she THOUGHT would be funny, what she THOUGHT people would want to see.
It turns out, what her body and soul wanted to share and express are much different.
It takes courage to realize that and even more courage to follow through with it.
Because again, there’s so much perfection demanded of us - especially in the dance world. It’s safer to think up something and create calculated movements than it is to move from your truth in the moment, as messy as it might feel.
But really, don’t we all want to see what’s real?
I know I do.
If you do, too, and if you’re in NYC come out to our show next Friday.
And if you’re craving support in finding YOUR messy realness in the dance studio, contact me and let’s set up a time to talk to see how I could support you in bringing out your truest self, on and off the dance floor.
to the beauty in the mess,
Jess
