During my elementary school years, beginning ballet turned to tap dance and eventually I switched to gymnastics; so by the sixth grade, I was no longer in the dance recital, I was in the audience observing it. I recall this so vividly because there was a featured dancer on stage. A classmate nearby identified that dancer as me. Obviously, it was not, for as I pointed out, I was sitting right there. By being mistaken for the featured dancer, my awareness of the ability to dance in relation to others was heightened. Self-critique had entered my consciousness. I dabbled in dance, whereas that dancer on stage was more committed. I never knew who that dancer was, but looking back, it very well could have been my dear friend, Michelle, whom I met the first day of middle school. Michelle, my new best friend in the seventh grade, became my dancing […]
