Every young dancer dreams of doing a senior solo when they grow up. It is one of the things that pushes us to work hard and continue to learn such a beautifully technical artform. However, they always seem to forget what the solo really represents: a final goodbye.

On April 28, 2019, I took the stage one last time as a dancer at 7th Street Dance Studio. It was the day I had been waiting and preparing for my whole career, yet when it came, it still felt like it shouldn’t be the end. It wasn’t until the Class of 2019 took our places one last time that it really hit me: this was it, I was only going to get to dance with the amazing people in my class one last time. In that moment we were all overcome with extreme sadness that we didn’t know we would be feeling.

Throughout the course of the year, I prepared my dances and never once thought about the emotions I would feel when I took the stage to perform one last time. Maybe I should have since I cried my eyes out as the final number came to a close.

As I looked back at my 15 year career as a dancer all I could see were the positive things. Sure there were days that I didn’t want to put my pointe shoes on because my feet hurt and days where I wanted to be anywhere other than the dance floor, but all of that fades away when I think about all of the things dance has taught me. Dance has taught me to be confident in myself, to have discipline, to be graceful, and to express what I’m feeling in a beautiful way, even though those feelings might be sad. But most importantly, it taught me to never give up on my dreams no matter how much I wanted to. To be completely honest, I don’t know what kind of a person I would be if my mother had never signed me up for classes at two years old. That is how much of an impact these classes, as well as the people in them, have had on my life.

To anyone reading, I implore you to take a dance class. Just one. It doesn’t matter if you’re five or seventy-five, age doesn’t matter. And I know in the beginning you might look like a baby giraffe standing up for the first time, but I promise that we all look that way in the beginning. It’s the effort that makes it beautiful. It is an amazing experience that has brought so much happiness into my life and I know it will do the same for you.