Self Expression Through Dance

     

Five Stages of Grief 2016

          I use dance to tell stories from love and happiness, grief, and topics about what’s going on in the world. The culture of dance has been around for many centuries, like ceremonies and celebrations. In addition, dance has been used more and more to tell stories about the pain our society is going through and has been going through for years. When I choreograph, I try to tell a story that I either went through or try my best to preform it, so the message gets across to the audience.

Choreography and execution play a big role in self-expression. When you have a diverse group of dancers for a piece it’s nice to have a theme, but allow dancers to express those moves in their own way. Equally, Facial expressions play a part in dancers self-expression. With dance, the audience read and feel the emotion of a dancer, when dancers genuinely feel the piece. For example, a peer and I choreographed a dance about all of the friends we’ve lost while being in high school. Our piece was called “Five Stages of Grief”, we wanted to show how hard it has been and show that you aren’t alone while going through those stages. Over the years, Dance has developed into the most popular forms of self-expression in art. Many dance styles can help dancers express and feel their emotions from hard hitting moves to slow and smooth movements. I believe dance is one of the most free and open ways to feel and communicate through one's body.             

            When it comes to self expression through this art, I believe that you have to learn from someone who is just as passionate as you. While taking dance classes when I was younger and in high school, I came across many amazing teachers and some not so good ones. For example, I can say that it’s hard to express yourself when you have teachers that can discourage you, because of your size, race and religion. Many people outside of the dance community don’t see behind closed doors and the audience only sees the painted expression on stage. Granted, I learned so much from both types of teachers and it showed me that you have to change a negative situation into a positive one.

Samohi Basketball halftime performance 2017