I Hope You Dance

“When you get the choice to sit it out or dance,

I hope you DANCE”

I love to dance, I’ve tried my hand (or should I say my feet) at a few genres. In my early childhood days; Highland, in my teens; Jazz, in my high school years; Disco fever, in my early adult years, Country two-step and line dancing, and most recently adult Highland as well as Salsa cardio. I’m not always the most coordinated and don’t always remember the steps but I love the music, the dance moves, the workout and most importantly, the friends.

I have been Highland dancing for 8 years, not competitively (I don’t need that kind of stress in my life), not professionally, just to work out and enjoy an evening once a week with great friends. Each week we work on reviewing steps, technique, stamina and once in a while, we add a whole new dance into the mix. If I can remember 3 out of every 4 steps, it’s a good night.

A couple of months ago we started working on our year-end recital piece for the Adult Highland Dance Class at Definitive Dance. There are 8 of us and 2 swords. Timing is everything as 4 of us enter the inside of the sword and pas de basque our way around the full circle. We all giggle, chat, take breaks and spend a lot of time deciding on the perfect outfit to wear; and this year we changed our minds 3 times! We all have a little competitive streak in us and we all want the show piece to be perfect. We think we are amazing and we want to be the highlight of the show. Nobody will out-perform the “adult class”. We premiered our dance performance yesterday at the University of Calgary and we rocked!!

Our dance teacher Lorna Thackrey-McDonald is amazing and if she ever gets frustrated with us (I’m sure she does!), you would never know it. Thanks for another great year Miss Lorna, see you in the Fall.

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,

May you never take one single breath for granted,

GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance..."