I didn’t dance much in the first month of 2023. Modern dance class was on a break, and I missed a couple Saturday Zumba classes. It starts to affect my mood when I don’t get my dancing on. Throwing on a 90s hip hop station on Pandora and doing a little kitchen dancing helps, but it’s not the same as going into the studio. I start to miss the challenge of class, testing myself with different exercises and routines. Dancing for fun is great and always a good mood booster, but in the long term, I need more for my dance soul to feel fulfilled.
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When did arm styling become fun?
Dance is often referred to as an art/sport because of the athleticism required to produce beautiful and inspiring performances. Dance is a full-body workout; we all know and have experienced that. It’s also a mental and emotional workout as we try to remember all of the choreography and technique required to move our bodies in beautiful ways while also adding on style and expression that will connect us with our audience. I’m a little tired just thinking about it.
The sport half of dance always came easier to me. It was more black-and-white and scientific. Technique had rights and wrongs. I could muscle my way through the movement, which made me feel strong instead of vulnerable. When teachers started talking about arm styling and suggesting I do what feels right, I balked. What felt right to me was doing nothing with my arms, but that’s not what they were trying to get me to do. They wanted me to feel the right way to launch my arm over my head or out to the side in a way that looked graceful and effortless, or in the case of tango, strong and confident.
Continue readingThe Merging of Practice Ballroom Dance and TGWTTT
They were basically the same place anyway.
Somewhere along my entrepreneurship journey, wrapped up in hustle culture, I got it in my head that I needed a separate place for each piece of The Girl with the Tree Tattoo brand – the blog, the shop, the email list – they all needed their own home. Once I moved to Maine, as I continued to bask in the natural beauty of my own home and felt no need or desire to go anywhere else, I started to wonder why did The Girl need to be so spread out?
Continue readingUpdates That Aren’t House Projects
While The Girl may not be dancing much ballroom these days, there are happenings outside of house projects that I wanted to share.
First, a short PSA for any dancers struggling to see the results they want at an audition or competition:
Continue readingEveryone’s Doing the Best They Can
I belong to a fitness accountability group and earlier this week, I posed a question. I wanted to know how the others in the group managed their workouts when Life got really crazy, like it has been for me this month. They seemed to be so much better at doing their workouts consistently and reaching their weekly fitness goals. I was sure I was slacking somewhere and I wanted the secret sauce. What was the magic ingredient that I was missing that made me less consistent and less successful?
Continue readingWhat Do You Believe About Yourself As a Dancer?
A few weeks ago, I attended a workshop hosted by my mindset/personal development/creative/just generally awesome coach, during which we did an exercise that involved listing things you believed to be true about yourself. This wasn’t meant to be a self-roast or pity party; the goal was to identify positive things. The question then came up – is it really being honest to only list positive things and ignore the negative?
This is it.
This is it, people! This is not a drill! In 24 hours, The Girl with the Tree Tattoo is pulling up her roots and transplanting them to the opposite corner of the country. She has said her farewells and figured out how to get most of her stuff packed into a ’96 Subaru station wagon named “My Girl Friday”. Only thing left to do is get on the road.
You Belong Here
Happy Summer, dancers! We are nearing the halfway point of 2020. I don’t think anyone expected us to be where we are. Every week seems to bring another plot twist to the year.
Continue readingWhen You’re Serious About Your Ballroom Dance “Hobby”
To the majority reading this, nothing I write will be new or surprising. You all know what I’m talking about before I even start. Maybe your non-dance friends will gain some insight if you forward the article to them.
Continue readingIs it worth competing if the game is rigged?
As a rule, I avoid dance politics, gossip and the like. Things like these do nothing to improve my dancing or my life in general; they only distract and upset me. Sometimes though, they can be hard to avoid. When I hear more than one of my fellow dancers questioning whether it’s worth competing at all because of the politics, I feel compelled to say something.
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The Girl with the Tree Tattoo 