What Defines you as a Dancer

As a dancer, it is almost inevitable to let roles, corrections, and scores define your worth. When you work so hard for a competition but receive a low score, or when you don’t get your "dream role," it can feel as if you aren't good enough. Or when a teacher’s words hit a little too hard, it can make you doubt your abilities. These feelings are valid, but they don't get to define who you are—not just as a dancer, but as a person.

It’s so easy to let a role, a teacher, or a competition score define your worth, but then you start dancing for validation instead of for yourself. Although validation feels so good—like when you hear applause after a perfect performance or when your name gets called for your dream role—those moments fade away quickly. One standing ovation won’t carry you through the next class. A perfect score at a competition won’t erase the doubt you face after falling out of a single turn.

When you chase that kind of validation, it slowly diminishes the spark that made dance feel so magical in the first place.

You forget why you enjoyed dancing.

For me, I dance because its a way for me to be mindful and attentive of my christian faith. For others, maybe they dance because it’s a way to express what words can’t, to find confidence, to learn discipline, or to build resilience. Dance is powerful and special, as every movement evokes some type of purpose. But when you let outside validation become the goal, it takes away what makes dance so powerful and meaningful.

That spark, that reason, that why—that’s what makes you a dancer. And nothing can take that away.