If you struggle with confidence when it comes to dancing or competing, there are a myriad of reasons that could be the case, but one question I have to ask is, “Do you enjoy your movement?”
I don’t mean whether it looks or feels technically correct, or musical, or connected to a partner, or any of the more abstract stuff. Do you get that feeling of pure enjoyment out what your body’s doing? If I don’t have that, or if I focus so hard on something else that I lose that, dancing (any dance) doesn’t feel right, I’m not confident, and it shows.
At any given time, I have a list of things I absolutely love about my body and my movement. It doesn’t mean I can’t be better at them, but these are the things I enjoy, and it’s hard not to be confident when I’m enjoying my own body (yes, phrasing, but it’s true). I couldn’t care less if people confuse my enjoyment for arrogance because, if I can’t enjoy my own movement, I don’t have a good reason to be dancing.
- I love the gravity of my hips, the way they sway when I just let them go, the way my butt jiggles when I do anything rhythmic
- I love my long torso, the flexibility of my waist, and the way I can use it to create shapes
- I love the strength of my core and how I can heavily dissociate or engage it for very precise movement and a clean axis
- I love “palming” the ground with my feet and feeling like a slinky cat on the prowl, power in every smooth step
- I love the way my feet move, how I can isolate from the hips down to either very rhythmic or very smooth movement
- I love isolating and slowing things down and feeling the way different muscles in my body engage to let movement travel from one part to another
- I love transferring movement from one part of my body to another, and watching it with my eyes, enjoying what my body is doing and inviting other people to enjoy it with me
- I love my close embrace and cuddling my body into another person’s body and allowing its softness to squish and adapt to another person’s shape and movement
- I love playing with the edges of my balance and seeing how much I can play with and break my axis through dynamic movement and still be in control
How do you enjoy your movement?
(Photo from bluesSHOUT! 2017 by Ben Hejkal Photography.)