How to keep Dancing When Everything F*ckin' Sucks
The past four weeks have taken approximately 73 years to unfold, with a steady drip of anxiety, dread, disbelief, and general horror being mainlined into our veins through a 24/7 news cycle that just never lets up. My husband calls this WHAAARGARBL Season and my friends, we are fully in it.
Whether you’re trying to stay sane as our country works through its biggest existential crisis in 160 years, or you’re dealing with some heavy personal shit, it can not only feel weird to dance and be creative, it might also feel wrong. Is it dismissive of the very real crises going on in our world to dance? Is it irresponsible to spend money on lessons and festivals when eggs cost as much as a doctor co-pay?
Here’s the thing–it is tough as hell to turn away from doom scrolling and incredibly valid fears about the state of the world to focus inward and create, but I argue that our dance practice is more necessary than ever in the face of all of…whatever this is….and not only do we deserve to dance when everything fucking sucks, we owe it to society to keep dancing.
Dance supports local economy.
In our late-stage capitalist world, it’s really difficult to find stores and corporations that operate with integrity and protect the communities that surround them. Prioritizing dance in your budget (if it’s feasible) supports artists on a hyper-local level and allows you to direct your money toward dancers and studios who reflect and communicate your personal values.
Dance is movement, and movement makes endorphins.
It can be the hardest thing in the world to get up and move your body once depression or anxiety takes hold, but bad mental health days really can be improved by some basic moving around. Even if the dance you do is 5 minutes of shimmies in your shower, or a quick noodle to a favorite song during your lunch break, it all counts and it all works to get the good brain chemicals back to flowing.
Dance builds community, and communities are important.
When a crisis happens in my life, I tend to self-isolate and deal with things on my own, but I also just spilled strawberry jam on my shirt, scooped it up with my spoon and ate it, so please take any advice with a tiny grain of salt, as I am a grown adult idiot sometimes. That said, DO take this advice–don’t be afraid to tell people you’re struggling, and don’t self-isolate your dance practice. If you’re a member of a troupe, make sure to check in with each other even if you can’t meet to dance. If you’ve quit dance classes due to finances or depression, ask your instructor if you could do studio work in exchange for classes or maybe if you could just come and sit and hang out until your body and mind feel up to dancing again. Attend a hafla as an audience member if you’re not up for performing. There are a ton of ways to contribute to the dance community without being an every weekend performer or a constantly working instructor or producer. If you belong to an online dance group or studio, check in on the message boards. Take a break, scale back, but don’t disappear entirely. Your community loves you, and they will step up and support you so you don’t have to go through it alone.
Take good care of yourselves, check in on your friends, and keep remembering why you dance. The winter will be over soon enough and soon we’ll have spring and the energy and motivation that comes with it. Things kind of fuckin’ suck, but we’ll get through it together, and soon we’ll be dancing for joy again.
