After three and a half months of shutdown due to the pandemic, it looks like I’ll soon be dusting off my dancing shoes and heading for the studio! But not the one I left all those months ago.

As I shared last week, the studio where I’ve trained for nearly eight years is officially closing its doors this week and, in a rare occurrence of continuity, Teacher’s new studio is also scheduled to open. My first dance lesson is on Wednesday. I looked back in my calendar – my last lesson was March 16!

I admit I have mixed feelings. I’m looking forward to feeling a real dance floor again, but with the exception of a hair cut a few weeks ago and Thai takeout for Father’s Day, I haven’t been out and about in society for months. Your orders from Practice Ballroom Dance have been my only real reason to leave my apartment complex! And I wouldn’t exactly call the Post Office being out and about.

While the virus is of course a concern (and the studio is doing what they can to reduce any potential risk of transmission), I also have some anxiety just at the thought of going out among people again. I’ve grown very comfortable not being around other humans.

Social anxiety isn’t anything new for me, but I haven’t had to practice managing it for quite some time. Slow and steady will be the way to go, which is why I’m only scheduling one lesson per week for now. I also plan on continuing to have all of my groceries and other goods shipped or delivered (my desire to return to running errands is nil).

So the next chapter begins! Even though it’s a return, it feels like a new adventure. There is a lot of rust to shake off and I definitely need to get used to dancing in heels again, but I’m sure my body will quickly remember what it feels like to dance.

I’ll keep you up to date on my progress with my new Dancing Back Into Society series. We’ll cover getting back into dancing mentally, physically and emotionally, setting new goals, and of course showing up authentically.

There is a lot of change and tension happening in the country right now, and I think it’s going to get more intense before it eases. Something this pandemic has made me realize is that dance can’t be my escape from reality. Reality affects dance just as much as anything else. So it doesn’t make sense to try to separate the two. Dance is part of my reality.

I’ll be exploring what that could look like in the series as well, but what I see now is more confident movement, more authentic expression, and improved alignment.

And I’m not just talking about on the dance floor. 😉