My Literacy in Dance

            Since I was in the second grade, I have been dancing, and throughout the years I have become very literate in the language and the way that the community acted together.  The first year I took only a tap class.  I learned what tap was through the participation in the dance class.  In the dance world, tap is the style of dance where you put on shoes that have metal plates attached to the heel and to the ball of the shoe.  With these shoes on your feet you make a rhythm, with or without music.  Since I took this class, I have learned to appreciate the beauty in the art of dance. 

             I have learned so many things throughout the large amount of time that I have dedicated to dance.  All of the literacy of dance that I have obtained was taught to me by my dance teachers and through the interactions that I had with the people that I danced with.  My slope of learning steepened even more when I went from being a recreational dancer to being a competition dancer.

            When I first started with the tap class, I had started because my mother wanted me to get some exercise and dance was one of the ways in which she chose it to accomplish that goal.  However, as the years went on, I started to love dance.  I loved being a part of the classes that in the end, put on what I though was a wonderful show at the time.  I loved the time that I spent with my friends, and in the end what I truly loved the form of expression that dance allowed me use as an outlet.  I even have learned to love the extremes that that the art pushes the body to reach. 

            Along with the love for dance I learned of the enormous vocabulary that encapsulates the world of dance.  I learned social skills that are necessary to participate in the community, for example one should clap whenever an award in announced, even if the person is on a different team.  This is because it is important to demonstrate good sportsmanship and to be happy for everyone.  I learned how to dress and how to have my makeup done so that it’s appropriate for the stage.  These lessons were taught to me through my participation in dance class, my social interactions with other dancers and the teachers, through my participation in the performances, and through my participation in competitions.  Being a part of the dancing community has changed my life immensely, in who I am and how I have chosen to live my life since I started to dance.

            I believe that dance even helped me to pick math as my teaching concentration.  There are many mathematical variables that come into light whenever there is a song or simple rhythm present.  I believe that the constant exposer to all of the math that surrounds the dance environment, has helped me to be more comfortable with mathematical concepts.  Even though most of the math that is involved in dance is not obvious, the constant exposure to rhythms, patterns, and many other related things, has made it easier for me to pick up and apply the more complex concepts.  When I started to look at being a teacher, I thought that I wanted to teach science.  I was good at science, but after a while I realized that I was only really good at the math within the science.  So that I how I picked math as my vehicle to teach.

              As I moved towards high school graduation, I started to be an assistant teacher at the dance studio, from this experience I knew that I did not want to be an elementary school teacher.  While the girls were adorable, a whole class of little girls was just too much for me; after the revelation I decided that I would teach high school and coach a dance team at that high school. 

            The literacy that I have gained will also help me to connect with the student that are involved with dance.  By being literate in dance, it will be easier for me to be able to find the connections between my lessons and my students’ lives.  Not only can I relate to the students that dance, I can relate, at least a little, to the kids involved with music, the students involved in sports teams, and others.  I have decided that I want to coach a dance team at whatever school that I end up teaching in.  Many schools don’t have a dance team and if I end up teaching in a school that doesn’t, I think that it would be very beneficial for that school to start one because of all the great things that dance can bring the students.  Dance has forever affected the person that I become and the teacher that I will be.