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Natalie Zollinger Orientation to DAnce 12-10-13

Personal Dance Philosophy There are many different reasons of why people dance. For some, the social aspect of being able to dance with people you may or may not know is what draws them. For others, it is the expressive aspect of being able to choreograph and express your emotions through movement that causes them to dance. This factor can either be for personal enjoyment and growth, or for the enjoyment of an audience or peers. The reason I dance is a combination of all of these aspects. I began dance classes when I was about three or four years old. For me it was mostly intriguing because of the pretty costumes and tutus we could wear. I was a very shy child growing up and to this day I am surprised I even wanted to do dance when I knew there were performances involved. I remember my first performance during the dress rehearsal. I got so stressed out by the thought of having to dance in front of strangers that I had to be held and consoled by one of the stage crew as they continued running rehearsals. From that point on my enjoyment of the ability to dance and tell a story through movement has grown. I still get nervous about performing but now the butterflies are of excitement rather than dread. My parents were very supportive of me dancing as I was growing up. My dad would play the Beach Boys on a record player and dance around the house with us in our little pink tutus. Music in the home has always been a big reason of why I dance. Starting from an early age, the music would directly influence my dance style. More energetic music would bring about high energy jumps and turns, while slower pieces brought more fluid and sustained movement.

My family moved to Washington when I was starting my fifth grade year and I decided to take a different route in dance than my current ballet/tap/jazz routine. My mother found The Yeates Academy of Irish Dance located in Portland Oregon and I fell in love with the style. During this time is when the social aspect of dance came into my sphere. Along with attending stake dances as I turned fourteen, we had irish combinations that included holding hands with boys which was very new for me at that age. It opened my eyes to working as a group in a routine rather than a group of dancers all just mimicking eachothers choreography. We had formations and special hand-holds to memorize. When I started high school this team and social aspect grew even more when I auditioned and made it on the dance team at my high school, and even greater as a took ballroom and other social dance classes later in college. Being on the Reign Dance Team opened my eyes to yet another form of dance: colorguard. We had very tough coaches who worked us to the bone, and this bonded us as a team very quickly. I learned how to trust my teammates, to rely on them to hand me a flag or to be on time in their spot for choreography. Being on this team also helped me realize the value of hard work. The drive to win really gives you a reason to work and practice outside of rehearsals so that you wont let your team down in competition. Through this time I really changed from being the shy little blonde girl, to having more confidence and not being afraid to speak my mind or to be myself around people I didnt know very well. There were many times during the process of the season that I wondered why I had even wanted to join the team. At times the practices and being yelled at by our coaches became so difficult that I wanted to quit. But each time, there was either the support and kind words of a teammate or a personal revelation that kept me going. I learned how to be tough, but not hard-hearted, how to work through pain to get stronger, and how to love those who criticize you, because all they are doing is trying to get you to the level

they know you can achieve. This lesson of how to handle criticism has lasted with me through the years until now that I am in college. Last Spring Term I auditioned for the Dance Education Major a week after finding out they were holding auditions. Prior to this I had changed my major a total of five times in search of a field that I was passionate about. I went to the counselor and she told me about the Dance Ed major and its upcoming auditions. Having never taken any contemporary before I decided to choreograph my one minute solo to the best of my abilities, and just try-out to see what it was like. I didnt end up making it, but that kick-started this amazing journey ive been on for the past year. After that first audition I knew that I wanted to do dance. I took all the classes I could in preparation for the auditions in fall. My first contemporary class was with adjunct faculty professor Joni Tuttle. She taught me how to come out of my shell in improvisation, how to be fluid with movement, and how not to be afraid of coming up with choreography. My second contemporary class was with Nathan Balser. He taught me how wide of a range of choreography styles there is in contemporary and how choreography with intricate footwork isnt just for tap or percussive foot styles. This semester I had the opportunity to be taught by Jiamin Huang who has taught me so much during these months. She has strengthened and heightened my confidence in every area of dance, from improvisation, to choreography, and to performance. Each of these teachers have opened my eyes to a greater spectrum of what dance is all about, of who I am as a dancer and who I have the ability to become. The reason why I dance is always a difficult question to answer. It is difficult because I see it so much more as a spectrum of reasons rather than one individual experience. I dance because it is easier for me to express what I am feeling through movement rather than words. I dance because I love learning new styles and forms while meeting new people and feeling the

energy in a room as everyone learns a piece of choreography and does it in unison. I dance because as Im walking home from school I think of choreography that I could do down the sidewalk if my life were a musical. I dance because of all the memories that come with it; the hard, the happy, the lonely, and the loved. I dance because if I didnt there would be an empty hole inside of me that couldnt be filled with anything else.