CAS Activity Journal Entry

Showing perseverance and commitment

• Are there ever feelings of doubt or wanting to skip practice?  If so, how did I move through them?

Yes, I get those feelings very often because I feel like I’m doing everything wrong when I dance. I’m a beginner, I started dancing 2 months ago. I feel insecure and intimidated by the other dancers. The way I get through these feelings is telling myself “let go and feel the music”. Music has a lot of influence on my body movements, all I do is I pretend like there’s no one around me and all I see is myself in the mirror dancing contemporary. 

• How do I motivate myself to stay active?  

I motivate myself by practicing contemporary dances in my house. I picture myself in a mirror dancing to a beautiful song. I motivate myself by thinking I can be good if I practice, because I’m just starting. 

• What have I learned from this activity and how did this learning (ie a change in perception) apply to me as a person?

I’ve learned how to understand myself more. I’ve always been that kind of person who is a little insecure and scared of what people think. But I’ve realized that their perception of me is wrong, I’m actually trying to do something new. If they think wrong about me, I don’t care anymore. I care more about what I think of myself. Yes, there will always be people who will judge what I do. But again, it’s my life, I make my own decisions. If dance is something I enjoy doing. Why should I hurt myself for what other people think or say of what I do? This is just in general. I get a lot of support from the students here in the studio. They also keep me motivated to become better. I’ve learned how to really express myself through contemporary dance and I can say it’s my favorite hobby now. 

Taking on new challenges:

• What new challenges have I taken on when doing this activity?

I challenge myself everyday in this new hobby because dancing is not easy. I challenge myself because I’ve always been used to some types of cultural dances like salsa, cumbia, merengue, bachata. Contemporary is something new in my life but I actually love it. Being flexible is not my strongest ability, I am pretty flexible but there are some things that are very hard to do with my own body. The good thing is that I’ve learned how to listen to my body and applied some techniques that will help me get more flexible than what I already am. One of the biggest challenges I faced was coming out of my comfort zone. Dancing is a new thing for me where I get to meet new people, new abilities and new relationships. 

• How have my perceptions of the sport changed over time?

My perceptions of dance have changed because in dance there is a lot of freedom. There is a lot of expression, there is a lot of communication within myself. In the beginning I thought I would never be good or able to do this type of dance. Now I changed my mind and I believe I can do anything I put my mind to. 

• How is the activity meaningful to me?

This activity is meaningful to me because I learned to love myself a little more everyday. 

• What is the value of this sport or activity for me?

The value and impact that contemporary dance has on me has become very significant, it has helped me to overcome those small bruises that I had been carrying around. And only I will know how I was able to heal them.

• How do I feel when I learn something new in this activity? Describe it. 

I feel excited and confused at the same time because sometimes the choreography steps are very fast and I try to mark each step at my disposal. There are times when the steps naturally come out the way I feel and the transmission I get from the music.