Dances that move me
Dancer: Sally
Dance Location: A gym/sports hall, Cardiff University
This is a dance that... inspired me to be more myself and less dependent on what other people thought.
I was 17 or so and I'd gone to a dance at the University of Cardiff, near to where I lived. I wasn't a student there, but no-one seemed to mind. I think the space was used for gym or sports as well as dances, it had a wooden floor, maybe bars on the walls... I'm not sure now. I know it was evening, but I don't remember what the light was like, or who I was with, or what I was wearing.
What I remember is this guy who was dancing, I couldn't stop watching him. He was kind of weaving in between all the people in the room and he was just doing his own thing, he didn't care what was going on around him or who was watching. The dance was mainly leaping and jumping, he was so spontaneous, and I don't think I'd ever seen anyone dance like that before. It was a real 'ah ha' moment for me.
Of course, time distorts memory. I don't remember if I started to copy him that night or if I waited until the next one, but my dance was pretty much the same as his, leaping and jumping as the music moved me. I was dancing to Cream, I feel free. Before that I'd been more stylised, more inhibited, and so dancing like this felt like a relief. Now, that's the only way I dance. If the music doesn't move me, I don't move.
Dance has become my mission in life. I dance a bit of everything from ballroom, to tap, to street dance, but I haven't danced this particular dance for a long time. Maybe I will again but it will have evolved because now I have so many kinds of dance in my body. I suppose I was different then... I hope that every day is different, otherwise what are we here for?