#23 Stayed in Dance Class

There's no denying that there's something beautiful about ballet. The grace, poise, and understated human strength that dancers have is astounding to me. I used to take dance classes but stopped before I went to middle school. I remember always loving it when I did it. I'm not exactly sure why I quit, but this past weekend made me wish that I hadn't. Last Sunday, I went to my friend Miriam's dance recital. It was the ballet version of Alice in Wonderland, in which she starred as the Queen of Hearts. In my eyes, Miriam has always been a beautiful person. She is always happy, always kind, and always there when you need her - the ideal friend, basically. But when I saw her dance, she became even more beautiful. Through dance, she came alive while I sat in the audience in awe. Even though she was a villainous character, I saw the beautiful person she is. I think that's why dance is so magical. No matter what character you play, the skill involved in ballet makes the character beautiful. You hate the Queen of Hearts, but that doesn't make her any less of an amazing dancer. As I was sitting in the audience, I instantly regretted quitting dance because I realized that that could've been me. Well maybe not because I don't think I ever would've been as good as Miriam, but I could've been in one of those crazy costumes on the stage having the time of my life. I guess I didn't stay in dance class long enough to develop that drive that all dancers seem to have. They literally have to dance, and if they don't, they're lost. I have another dancer friend that comes to mind when I think about passion and drive. Her name is Griselda. Every year my school puts on a Style Show that the seniors star in. In it, the whole class is divided up into groups and all the groups learn a dance from different choreographers and model clothing from stores that are willing to lend their stuff. I was unlucky and lucky enough to be in a group with both Miriam and Gris. Unlucky because they're both amazing dancers and would make me look bad, and lucky because they helped me out more times than I could possibly count. It was Style Show that made me good friends with Gris because she spent so much time teaching me the routines that I should've already learned. She never failed to say yes to me any time I asked her to help me - regardless of what she was doing. She lives for dance, and she is always willing to help other people feel the magic from dance that she feels. She probably has more passion in one hair on her head than most people do in their entire bodies, and I'm always amazed by that. Dance brings out beautiful things in people. That I know because I know people like Miriam and Gris. It brings out grace, poise, strength, drive, passion, and, obviously, beauty. Those things make me wish I'd stayed. I may not have been very good at it, but I should've stayed so that I could've figured that out. Miriam and Gris stayed, and for that I will always admire them.