To the girl who dances invisible


by LinneaHagler see you, standing front and center in class, sticking out like a


there’s not a chance they’ll get you into a slick, open-back-halter-top leo before you either die ormiraculously growsix inches, all in your torso. Youweren’tmade to dress like that, anyways.


I


This isn’t your home, is it?But the problemyou’re facing themore you come to class is that you’re no longer surewhere home even is, because it isn’t the space that’s the problem. It’s that there seemto be rules in place here that no onewill tell you about.Where should you stand?Who can you talk to?Where do you belong?Can you even dance if you don’t dance like everyone else? I have an answer for you, and youwon’t like it, but hearme out.


You belong right here.And I don’tmean on the floor of the rooms you can’t quite bring yourself to be familiarwith. I don’tmean in the lobby,where you’re alwayswaiting fifteenminutes before class begins, and dodging sidelong glances fromthe peoplewatching class. I don’t necessarilymean any certain place by that. I don’t evenmean in the studio.


Here’swhere youweremeant to dance. Youweremeant to belong in the present. In themoment. Your home is dancing, invisible girl, you belong inmotion.Maybe not exactly like them.Andmaybe not here, either.Maybe you’ll learn all the secrets of other floors later on,maybe you’ll finally find a roomthat feels like a fortresswhen you dance in it.Andmaybe youwon’t.


But here’s the thing, invisible girl. The thing thatmakesme sure beyond the shadowof a doubt that you should be dancing. You stand out among all of these things because you are the kind of personwho danceswith enthusiasmpouring out of your ears like cartoon character rage. You possess the innate ability to fill a space with your body, nomatter the cost. You look out of place sometimes


sore thumb. You dress a little different fromthe others, a little too comfortably. They all look at you funny because of it, but


Pictured: LinneaHagler


because you dance outside of your body, and that’s often something that requires odd shapes andweird angles.And that’s okay.


Invisible girl, you are allowed to dance. Yourmovement is justified because it has beenmoved.Whether or not you look like you belong in a space is irrelevant.Do you love to dance? Then you ought to be dancing.Dance doesn’t have to look like all of the people around you.Dance can look like you and all of your assets.


You can take up thewhole entire floorwhen you use it. You are unafraid ofmaking noise. You have away about you, invisible girl. Something that seeps out of your poreswith your sweat.An exu- berant kind of quality that can’t be taught. You are unafraid to stand front and center, evenwhen you knowthey’re allwatching you,waiting for your flaws to show. You have always only danced because itmakes you happy.


To the girlwho dances invisible, I have a secret to tell you. Youwill learn howtomake a home out of your own two feet.And if you work hard at that home, eventually itwill expand to include places that you never thought you’d be allowed to go, and tomake you into a person that you thought youweren’t allowed to be. You’ll havemore scars on your feet thanmost people, and itwon’t be because you keep doing thingswrong. You haven’t been doing themwrong thiswhole time. You’ve just been doing themdifferent. Invisible girl, different in dance is a good thing.


Continued on page 16. page 14 November-January 2018 www.thedancecouncil.org DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publication of the dance council of north texas vol. 20 • no. 4


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