Dance like no one is watching: You're enough at any skill level

Dance is for every body. Fat, skinny, athletic, disabled, white, black, brown, tall, short it doesn’t matter. Dance is for you. Dance is about being present in your body. Moving in the way your body is able to express yourself in that moment. There is no right or wrong way to dance.

People get intimidated by professional dance and think they can never do that. While you may not ever move your body in the way a trained professional dancer does, that does not mean you can’t enjoy dance. You are good enough as you are right now. So put on some tunes and let it inspire you. Allow your body to just get lost in the celebration of movement.

There is this stigma that you have to have a perfectly shaped athletic body to engage in dance. That if you aren’t going to do it perfectly you shouldn’t do it at all. Here’s the thing. Dance didn’t just become what it is. It has evolved through the ages. It has under pinnings of influence from the regions that it hails from. It is adapted based on what the people and the bodies are able to do. Dance is everything. It is an extension of the human experience. As such there is no right or wrong way to do it. There is just the way that you decide to do it. The way you choose to express yourself through motion is the right way.

Are you worried that you are “too fat” to enjoy dance? Maybe you were even told that at one time in your life. It’s simply not true. You don’t have to be thin to enjoy dance. You don’t need to be athletic to enjoy just moving your body. You don’t need to be abled body to dance and enjoy yourself. I have knee issues that make it hard for me to do some dance without pain. There are still so many things that I can do through.

So even if you can’t do all of the moves associated, you can do what your body allows. That makes you good enough. Don’t be ashamed of having limitations around what you are able to do. Celebrate what you can do. You are good enough. As long as you are enjoying yourself, that is what matters.

When you spin a piece of satin in the air, it doesn’t care what it looks like. It doesn’t care if it does something wrong or looks awkward. It just goes with the flow. This is what I think dance should be. Just moving and enjoying yourself. No expectations of being “good” or technically perfect, just allowing your body to experience movement in a way that is right for your body.