Starting Over Again

1. Know your Why

  If you read about my brand, TheWhy, then you know that I truly believe it is important for you to have a purpose aligned with your passion. To grow in anything, especially dance, you have to  have discipline,  consistency, passion, and an end goal. Ask yourself, what is my reason? What do I hope to achieve? How can hold myself accountable for achieving my goal. Personally, I knew it was time for me to start again because I felt like I was wasting my talent and my life. Although, I would take a dance class or two and live vicariously through dancers on my Instagram feed, I didn’t feel complete again until I made the decision to whole-heartedly commit to the craft. This is step 1 before you commit to starting again because it will make your journey easier when the road gets a little bumpy—– and trust me, the road does get bumpy, but it’s worth it if it’s the correct path for you to be on. 

2. Believe You Can

 Starting dance again is not for the weak. You have to commit to the craft despite the adversities you may face. At 30, I’m challenged with patella tendonitis caused by arthritis (my knees don’t work), trying to find balance between dance and work life, challenged by dancers that are 10 years younger than me, and I’m still trying to break into the tight knit local dance community. I have every reason to stop dancing again, but I won’t…….because I believe I can. If YOU believe in yourself, that’s all that matters.

3. Networking

 This would be so much harder for me if I didn’t have a circle of people in the same craft ( shoutout to Danni, Kalium, Micah, Krissye & Joycelyn) uplifting me on the regular to keep me going. Outside of their constant support, the people I’ve met in the dance community have been helpful to my journey, and they have presented new opportunities to me that I never could’ve imagined. It’s important to network and make friends in the dance community for several reasons, but especially to connect with people on similar paths as your own.

4. Track Your Progress 

Go to class, train hard & film yourself. One of the best forms of self-evaluation is through video critique—–hey, gotta love technology! Yea, we love a good video to show us how we can be better, but we love to watch that same video months later, and it shows GROWTH. You’ll be glad you filmed yourself, because you will always have it to measure your the distance between your starting point and where you are now; this will take you closer to your goal. 

5. Train, Train, Train!

Training is the most important tip of them all. Be sure to train in all styles —-familiar & unfamiliar—- so that you can be a diverse dancer. Even though I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to teach, I still love being a student. There is nothing that will serve you better in the dance industry than quality and consistent training. 

Just Do It

There’s never a right time or way to start again, but you have to at least start. Just get out there, dust your shoes off, and sign up for a class: https://whylanrucker.com/booking/