Dance: Self Discovery

My philosophy was not sporadically formed in full, it has been a process, but one in
which the roots are strongly connected to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In January of 1998 my
only living grandfather passed away. He was one of my best friends because he always made
me feel wanted and loved; for an eight year old, for anyone, this is very important. It was a
difficult time for me. I could not understand how my life would be able to continue as normal
without him to watch over me. One day, the sadness, disappointment, confusion, and love that I
had left unspoken about his passing became too much for me to bear. That is when, My heart
lifted my feet, and I danced. (Nemirov) I danced in my basement that day for hours, I danced
regardless of what I thought dance should look like, I danced what I felt and that felt pretty
enough for me.
Soon my love for dance grew and I began taking classes at school etc. I became a
member of my middle schools dance company and as we approached the minutes before our
concert was to commence, I over heard many of my friends talking about how their
grandparents were coming to watch and support them. I thought to myself how I was so
unlucky that my grandfather wouldnt be there to watch me dance. I stepped out onto the stage
for my first performance and in the middle of the dance, I looked into the audience, and I knew
that my grandfather was there, watching over me as he always had. In that instant I knew that
he had been watching me dance ever since that first day in my basement. I still feel as though
he watches me dance and I know that Heavenly Father must be right there with him.
It is because of this experience and many more, that I feel that dances definition could
not be complete if I did not mention not only the expression of oneself through movement, but
also the uniting of body, mind, and spirit. In class the comparison was made that dance, like
prayer, could be another channel of communication between us and God. I feel that this is
absolutely true. I feel that when we take the time to focus on bettering ourselves, whether
through scripture study, prayer, action, or even dance, the Lord listens and gives us pieces of

truth and affirmation about our divine nature to help guide us back to him. When we strip away
distractions we are more able to hear His directions. When we listen, the Holy Ghost will
provide us with truth. All truth comes from God and all our emotional and physical experiences
we explore in this life bring the spirit of confirmation; confirmation of what is right, wrong, what
characteristics are truly original to our soul and what part of us we are pretending to be to fulfill a
need in society.
The knowledge and truth that is revealed to me as I explore different ideas and concerns
is a large reason why I dance. In dancing I learn more about myself, my strengths, my
weaknesses, how I view problems, how I create, and how I feel about life in all different stages.
I feel that, Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is
no mere translation or abstraction of life, it is life itself. (Ellis) In life we are striving to perfect
ourselves in the gospel of Christ and as we continue on this journey, God helps us make
adjustments to reach our ultimate goal. In dance we are trying to become a perfect dancer.
With more practice, the more we are able to define perfection and identify the imperfections
fixed inside our body patterns. Quite literally, dance is a metaphor for life.
More than this, I dance because I feel comforted and loved when I dance. I feel that with
every brush of the floor, I am grazing the veil of heaven. Dance is connected with the single
instant as it comes along. (Cunningham) It is the closest to God I can get without being directly
in the temple. I dance because with every mistake, with every uncontrolled movement, I find
myself relying on my body and the Lord to help me become who I wish to be. Dancing helps
remind me what a huge role Heavenly Father and Christ play in my seemingly meaningless life.
I dance because I need to express myself in ways that words cannot. We are dancers. We
use movement to express ourselves - our hungers, pains, angers, joys, confusions, fears - long
before we use words, and we understand the meanings of movements long before we
understand those of words. (Stevens)
Dancing brings me joy in the simplest form. I am able to address all those present

without raising my voice to grab and hold onto their attention. I see the dance being used as a
means of communication between soul and soul to express what is deep, too fine for words.
(Denis) I feel that as I dance I am able to better understand who I am and how I can fix things in
my life that seem uneasy.
As a senior in high school I was in a very abusive relationship. I was told time and time
again that every problem was my fault, that I wasnt trying, that I wasnt good enough, that I
wasnt worth it, that I was the one who had to be better. I spent many months trying to tip-toe
around his requests just so I wouldnt be blamed, hurt or embarrassed by another one of our
fights. It was during these months that I realized just how much dance wasnt just a fun creative
physical activity, it was a safe place; a place I could throw caution to the wind and allow my soul
to express what was inside. Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the
souls weather to all who can read it. (Graham) Dancing allowed a freedom of expression that
was suppressed outside of the dance room. Dancing saved my life that year and I will never
forget how I was able to remember who I truly was through those dark days by looking through
the mirror of dance. Dance is not separate from the life it comes from. (Brooks)
Dance allowed me to look inside myself and find the hidden strength to stand up for
myself and leave the endangered life I had been leading. In the dance, even the weakest can
do wonders. (Gross) Because God allowed that communication to be open, he was able to
help me remember those he had placed in my life as comforting angels and helped me
understand that they had not abandoned me, I would never be alone.
I cannot imagine my life without dance. I will teach my children the importance of dance
and how it is another tool created by God to help us live our lives in the best way possible.
There is not greater gift than the Atonement, but I would like to conclude that for me, next to the
Gospel and all that that entails, next to my family, friends, and the love they so freely give me,
dance is the most influential part of my being. If it werent for dance, I would be in a world of
manipulation, disappointment, sorrow and continuous grief. I am convinced that Heavenly

Father uses dance as a way of reminding me that I am a daughter of God. I am powerful and
strong and am able to take on any challenge life throws at me. When I am dancing, I know that
God is on my side, and with God on my side I cannot fall. In conclusion, The highest function
of the dance is to enable mans concept of himself. (Denis) I will never stop dancing and dance
will never depart from its home within my heart. If it is true that, To every thing there is a
season and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a
time to mourn, and a time to dance; what better time to dance than now, while life is at my
threshold waiting for me to take it by the reins and direct my journey back to my Father in
Heaven. For me, the time to dance is now and always.

Bibliography:
"Quotations of Dancing." Quote Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr 2010.
<http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html>. (quotes from Ruth St. Denis, Nathan of Nemirov,
Havelock Ellis, Marie Cunningham, Franklin Stevens, Martha Graham, Marie Brooks, Karl
Gross)
Ecclesiastes; The Bible. King James Version. 3:1,4