Why I Dance – Andrea Reyn Tryggvadottir

As company and I were getting ready to perform at our local pier, one person stood out. There were many performances before us, some Latin dances and mariachi bands of all ages. I can’t help but remember this one woman marching her bare feet on the wooden planks of the pier, flailing her arms about and just showing people how much fun she was having. She was smiling, singing, and clapping along, she supported every performance that came onto the stage. She was radiating happiness, and she was spreading it to everyone. The innocence of any judgment gave me so much joy, she was bold and unforgiving. What makes anyone think they should do or be anything less than they are just because there are people around?

I dance to be this person, I want to radiate happiness. I want people to watch me dance and want to dance with me. I want to take up every space for judgment and fill it with joy. Dance makes me feel free, it makes me forget everything I was stressing about earlier, and gives me a type of energy high, a wonderful feeling I cannot describe. I can come into the pretenders studio tired and drained from my day and I would come out exhilarated. Dance makes me grateful to roll my shoulders, to stretch my legs, to be able to leap and waltz across floors. Not one part of me wants to stop dancing no matter what I do in my future. I will still dance through the grocery store aisles, will still see how many turns I can do on slippery floors, and gracefully leap over puddles. The question was why do I dance, I think I dance to live a life free of the ordinary.