“I can’t dance”

I could not tell you how many people throughout my life have said to me “I can’t dance”. It very often is the first thing people say to me in response to telling them that I have a career in dance. However, it is my whole hearted belief that EVERYONE can dance.

Bobbing your head in the car to a catchy song is dancing. Tapping your foot is dancing. Even jumping around in your kitchen while you’re cleaning and listening to your favorite songs is dancing. Twerking at the club is dancing! What I always like to say is that everyone has the capacity to dance, it is simply a matter of practice.

I know and have spoken to many adults who are afraid to take a dance class because they think they are too late to “learn” to dance, when really they have been dancing their whole life without even knowing it. Sure it may not have been official training but chances are they are more prepared than they think! And so you shouldn’t be afraid if you want to take a dance class because you have the tools inside of you already to learn. We all have the capacity to recognize rhythm in music and are able to move in time to it.

And so whenever I hear someone utter the phrase “I can’t dance” I try to offer an alternative as it is simply a matter of linguistics. Instead of that they “can’t” dance it is that they don’t think they are good at dancing. We all are born with the ability to dance. Just like we have the ability to walk, we have the ability to dance. No even more, those that cannot walk due to disability still often can dance in some form! The things we tell ourselves or say out loud have power and so I believe by changing the way we talk about dance, we change the way we experience dancing.