Hobbies | Do What Makes You Happy
I'm feeling in the mood for a bit of a thoughtful and reflective moment and feel like sharing my thoughts and opinions with you and a bit more about me; so here goes. What makes me happy, even for just an hour or two minutes? My hobby. Dance: Ballet and Tap. Why does it make me happy? Because I love dance. There's nothing more satisfying when you master a new hard step or routine. When you are successful and in my case, when you finally get that one hard routine in Tap that requires so much co-ordination. The step that involves soo many shuffle ball changes heel clicks across the room and
pick-ups
followed by yet more shuffles where you have to move backwards by 'hopping' and it is just so fast, it's mind boggling! But I still love it because after all that practice and frustration it has finally payed off.
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Yes I know the ribbons supposed to be
tucked in but at the time I hadn't cut them
(p.s these shoes were in the process of being
broken in which is why the shoes isn't 'moulded'
to my foot) |
Same goes for Ballet, my favourite out of the two styles of dancing that I do. I just love that feeling when you realise you are finally able to do four pirouettes and land perfectly, on pointe when you just started and worked so hard building up the strength in your feet and ankles to do that one hard step or move. Again, all that hard work has finally payed off. This is why dance makes me happy and why I love it. It made me so happy when I achieved those hard routines and steps listed above, as I had to spend quite some time building up the strength in my feet and ankles and just in general, in order for me to finally take on the steps that for someone who had just started pointe work, were hard. It was hard to learn to get used to having to balance, be aware of your feet and surroundings and make the steps run smoothly and look effortless, all whilst on your toes. But that's what this field of dance is about and it's what I enjoy doing. It's this feeling of achievement that just makes dance so worth while for me, the feeling of success as you have understood and mastered that one step, routine or exercise and the feeling of happiness as you have achieved a goal and can continue to do what you love to do; which in my case is my hobby.
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My first pointe shoes, they look
soo new shiny! :0 Grisko Triumphs |
I have been dancing for about eight coming up to nine years and started quite late compared to those in my class who are all two years and more younger than me. I have never seen myself actually dancing so I have no idea if I am 'great' at it but it's my hobby and I love it and that's that. You should never let anything or anyone stop you from doing something that you love to do (as long as it is a positive thing and not negative in any way), even if you are not the best or need just a bit more practise etc.
I am not a professional either as it is just a hobby of mine, but one that I love to do and take part in and get so happy about when I have success involving dance. For example, in Ballet I just managed to do fouettes one day when I was originally practising my spotting* . I managed to do four before I stopped and realise "Ahhh you just did four fouettes! Sure they were a bit untidy but hey there's always time to practise but still you did it and you find that they are quite hard to do whilst balancing and spinning around" (for those of you who don't do dance and have no idea as to what I am talking about, there's definitions at the bottom of the post :/ )
One of the moments in my life that I feel most happy is when I walk into the dance studio for my dance lesson after a long day spent at school (soon to be college) It gives me a chance to forget about everything else for an hour and enjoy myself. You should do what makes you happy (as long as it's not bad or destructive) You only have one life to live, so you should live it well and happy. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something because " Your not good enough" , "You lack the skill to do it" or simply because "You don't follow the rhythm" etc.
This is what I decided to talk about, to say to people do what makes you happy as I do dance which makes me happy. Only you know what makes you happy so go ahead and use that knowledge. Thank you, byyeee! :)
(some definitions for dance names or terms that I have mentioned above and you may not have understood)
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Pointe shoes- also known as toe shoes, dancers doing advanced Ballet dance wearing these shoes that allow then to dance on the toes.
*
Pirouette- a full turn of the body on the point of the toe or ball of the foot.
*Fouette/s- a quick whipping movement of the raised leg in Ballet usually accompanying a pirouette.
*
Spotting- a technique used by dancers during the execution of various dance turns, aiming to attain constant orientation of the dancers head and eyes to the extent possible in order to enhance the dancers control and prevent dizziness.
*
Shuffle/s-combined two brushes of the foot forward and backwards on the floor.
*
Pick up/s-standing on the ball of the foot, jump up, hitting the ground with the ball of the foot then with the heel.
*
Ball change/s- two steps on alternating feet. The first step does not get alternating weight.
*
Heel clicks-a step that consists of hitting the heels of the dancers shoes together whilst moving across the room. For example,step jump and click the heels together as the dancer jumps.
*
Shuffle-ball-change- a shuffle followed by a ball change.
Yours Truly,
Caris
