It was June, school was ending, and everyone was anxious to get out of school and hang out with their friends or sleep in late. The skies were a bright blue with white puffy clouds lingering every so often with the sun shining bright. It was beautiful. As much as I wished to go outside and draw with chalk on my driveway or roll down the hill with my little brother in the back yard, I couldn't. I was stuck inside. But hey, that’s all cool right? Just chill in the AC and stay hydrated? Nope.
I sat in the tan cotton seat of my mom’s car with the sun beating down on my face through the windshield. My black tank top and shorts absorbed the heat and I was beginning to feel the perspiration building on my skin. As the traffic light turned green, my mom turned the corner and pulled into the Westside Plaza parking lot. I gathered my water bottle, dance bag and paperwork. “Bye mom” I said. “Bye have fun!” she replied. I hopped out of the car and pulled the black handle to the main entrance of the studio.


Once in the studio, I took an immediate right and plopped my bag and water bottle down on the bench. Then I re-gathered all of my paperwork and walked to the office, checking my mailbox on the way there. “Hi Miss Tammy, how are you?” I asked her smiling. “I’m great, thank you! Are those your forms for intensives?” she asked. “Yes they are,” I replied as I handed her the forms. We continued to make small talk about the past month since we hadn't seen each other since the dance recital in May. I then walked back over to my bag and slipped on my jazz shoes and grabbed my water bottle and made my way to studio 2.

I met up with my three best friends, Jennelle, Vanessa and Laura at our normal spot in the back right corner of the room next to the ballet bar. We made small talk about how the ends of our school years were going and how un-flexible we felt since he hadn't danced in a month or so. Even though dance had ended we still got together every weekend because after all, we were best friends.

My dance teacher Miss Pam walked in the studio and greeted us all with a warm smile. The rest of the class all chimed in “Hi” or “Hello” in unison, greeting her as well. Miss Pam walked over to the stereo and plugged in her phone to the aux cable and turned the music on loud and instructed us to run in place to warm our bodies up before we stretched. For ten minutes we ran, did mountain climbers, jumping jacks, and grapevines with a jump at the end in a sequence. My body was already starting to become tired since I hadn't done had a stretch and strength class in what seemed like an eternity. We quickly moved on to stretching by reaching to the floor and sitting on the ground contorting our body in all shapes to get ready for class. I remember being one of the most un-flexible kids in the class, the reason being the year before was my first on team, and recreational classes don’t spend much time working on a dancer’s flexibility.

That was the biggest difference between team and rec. Team was so intense and the teachers pushed you to your limits, but rec was just all about fun. Most people would say that the biggest difference was that team dancers compete and practice multiple times a week while the recreational dancers only do recital and practice once a week. That’s where I have to disagree, and this is because dancing on team was what made me realize that what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life was dance.

I danced recreationally at my studio for 6 years, if you aren't counting the crew hip hop that was somewhat of a competitive team that ONLY competed in hip hop and the year I danced pre-team. Every year that I danced on rec I always thought about when I grew up doing something dance related, but I also found myself daydreaming about something else that I might have wanted to be. Maybe a teacher, or a cheerleader, or even a mail carrier.

My first year on team I was kind of just testing the waters. I danced on crew hip hop the year before and liked the competition atmosphere and wanted to try more dance styles at a competitive level. It was that summer coming back on to the team was when I realized that all I wanted to do was dance.

As we moved into the turns, kicks, and leaps class I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair wasn't as neat as it was when I first walked into the studio and my clothes were definitely not this sweaty. Miss Pam showed us a kick combination to do across the floor so she gave us some time to practice and we shortly after lined up at the ballet bar to go across the floor. I watched myself closely in the mirror as I counted the music to make sure my timing was precise and all my kicks were on time. I had to do well at these summer classes if I wanted to keep my place on team or maybe even move up to a higher level on team.

After everyone had gone across the floor Miss Pam had we all come out to the center to do the combination facing the mirrors from the front. As the music played and I watched myself and the surrounding dancers I noticed something. Out of every dancer in the room, I did the combination differently. It wasn't that I did the steps wrong, it was that I had my own style to the movement, my own personal flare. That’s what made me different than everyone else, and that’s what made me special. And in that moment, I realized that the little special flare I had was what made me want to keep dancing, and try harder to be my own special dancer.