Dance as a Form of Self-Expression: Nurturing Creativity and Emotional Well-Being
Key takeaways
Dance serves as a powerful form of self-expression, conveying emotions through body movements, facial expressions, and connection to music.
Free Mind classes emphasize the integration of technical skill with emotional expression, encouraging dancers to interpret choreography personally and make subtle changes to convey different messages.
Dance, as experienced at Free Mind, provides an open and limitless space for creativity, allowing individuals to release and express their emotions while nurturing their well-being.
Self-expression with dance
Hello everybody, this week I want to dissect how dance can act as a form of self-expression! Dance is a form of storytelling through the movements you convey with your body. One story can be told through sharp movements and a straight face, and a completely different story can be told with fluid movements and soft eyes. The way you allow yourself to connect with the music will push you to nurture creativity and foster emotion. Nonverbal communication is extremely important in the world of dance because body language and facial expressions are the leading indicators of the story you are telling. There are many ways to achieve this level of dancing which I’ll take you through today, as well as sharing some personal experience.
Starting out as a dancer, typically your focus is on nailing technique and building your skill repertoire. Free Mind classes balance this importance of technical movement with the ability to showcase emotional expression. Learning how to do these simultaneously will intertwine your emotional well-being with your dance moves naturally. For example, I recently attended “Bad B!tch Ballet: Slay in Plié” taught by Madz Alexander who made a point to expand our view on ballet. This was done through pop songs as instrumental music, allowing the class participants to create that connection to their work. It was also conveyed while we were practicing petite allegro, after one round to get the movements down Madz introduced the concept of “holding your head high.” This one slight bodily change created an entirely new message to the routine, now conveying poise and confidence to an audience. These small changes taught at Free Mind are the difference between just dancing and expressing your emotions through the choreography. Instead of focusing singularly on performing the routine perfectly, I focused on how I could change the message of this dance, bringing newfound emotion and creativity into petite allegro.
The possibilities are endless
As dance is a form of self-expression, that means the possibilities for creativity are endless! One thing that makes me so passionate about dance is that nothing is off limits. That is where I find my dance goals align with Free Mind, because the studio offers an open space for trying new things. In all classes at Free Mind from Contemporary Expression to AfroBeats: Rhythmic Vibes there are possibilities for you to interpret the choreography on a personal level. Just because a dance move has not been done before or shown to you does not mean it is off the table. Your artistic insight as to what can elevate a dance is how you improve your knowledge and abilities in that specific gerne. The more willing you are to be creative with a dance, the more you can put yourself into it, releasing your emotions. At the end of the day, dance truly is all about that powerful release of emotions which comes from connecting yourself to your piece of art.
I grew up dancing from age 3 to 18, learning all about about how to put emotions into each style of dance. Now in college staying consistent with dance has been a challenge, but I have been able to reconnect with dance through Free Mind. As soon as I began to dance competitively, as early as elementary school, bringing together dance and emotion became just as important as nailing a skill. I was taught to feel the music, and change my facial expressions based off different parts of a routine to express that current feeling. The musical theater dances I performed had much larger expressions than a serious tap routine, yet I could feel myself radiating through them all. I learned that throughout the time span of a 3-minute routine to lay it all on the line. Outside conflicts were not of importance once I had entered the studio or stepped onto a stage. This is where my emotions became intertwined with dance, because even if outside the studio I had a stressful day, inside the studio was time just for myself. Free Mind aims to allow each person who steps into the studio to have this same experience. At the studio your time dancing is all about you, so channel any positive or negative emotions from the outside world into your movements and see what new feelings can be created! This is also the perk of Free Mind offering multiple classes of different genres each day because you can choose to attend the class that matches your needs for self-expression that day.
What dance has taught me
Dancing has taught me to step out of my comfort zone, because in those moments of vulnerability is when true magic is created on the dance floor. Dance is a very healthy and therapeutic full body way of releasing your emotions, so by allowing yourself to do this you are nurturing yourself. Free Mind can be an open space to guide you through this journey of self-expression. The times when you allow yourself to fully be present while dancing is when you will find the most benefits. All dance styles offer new forms of creativity, so come find yours at Free Mind and start expressing yourself through body language.
