I dance, so I live

I used to dance a lot when I was younger (during my teens).
My connection with dancing traced as early as I was in kindergarten-I had always been selected to dance for the graduation performances every year when I was there.
I never thought it was a big deal or anything special. I just enjoyed it.
I didn't enjoy performing that much, but I love the feeling of moving my body to the music.
But think back about it now,I guess that indicated something about my good motor skill development and body coordination ( thanks to my parents' gene).

I started formal dancing lessons since I was about 10 years old, attending ballet and Chinese folk dance classes at a private dance studio. I just loved it (especially Chinese folk dance).
The training was not easy and we had a mix class-with people from 9 year-olds to 15 year-olds. The classes also consist of a mixture of levels-from beginners like me and many people who had been dancing for a long time, but just want to keep on practicing the basics (But actually I think students came more because of the teacher-all of us adored her).
Because of the mixed level and age of the dance class, it was actually very challenging. Many students there were in formal dance school (or you can say they are "professionals") and had much much more experience than I did. It was not easy to keep up with all of them. Sometimes it could be really frustrating-seeing all my classmates dancing so gracefully and nicely when I couldn't even remember the movements correctly, clumsily trying to keep up.
I tried very hard to catch up and learned as hard as I can, because I want to be as graceful as they were. I love dancing and I quite enjoyed challenge, so I guess I coped quite alright.  

Thinking back to my childhood, I think the time of dancing really was much much more memorable than the time at school. School was long and most of the time boring.
My closest friend in elementary school was also a dancer (and a musician). We used to perform together at school talent shows quite frequently. We skipped many classes (legitimately) to practice dancing for the talent shows quite regularly. Those times were probably the most enjoyable ones at my elementary school. However, the dance studio was closed around the time when I was 12 because of financial difficulty. So I stopped dancing for a while.

Fortunately, it wasn't for long. After entering junior high school (12-14 year-olds), I joined the folk dance team in school. Our team attended regional and national competitions and won many prizes. We had to get up and went to school earlier than other students for practice during weekdays and spend extra weekend times for practice as well. I think the dancing time was actually the most enjoyable time and what kept me going during my junior high years. The academic part of the school was pretty dull and dry.
Apart from the school folk dance team, I also attended a private dance class once a week with a good friend of mine I met in the dance team. She is one of my closest friends up until now. :)  We were often paired up in the dance because of our height and level (both of us were considered very advanced among the team) were somewhat compatible. But she grew much taller than me after graduating from junior high so now we wouldn't be consider as the same height anymore!
Anyway, that's not the point. The point was, fortunately I kept on dancing again in my junior high.

In senior high (15-17), academic pressure became much heavier so I did not attend the private dance classes anymore. However, I didn't just stop dancing.
I attended the Street dancing club in my high school, so I started to learn very different types of dancing-Hip-Hop. We practice once a week and had some additional workshops during school break in the first year. In second year, we had very intensive practices and choreographies every week plus every weekend including school breaks.  We performed and competed in many places as well. However, I didn't feel that much connection with Hip-Hop for some unspeakable reasons. Probably mostly because I couldn't identify with other club members that well. The only member I connected well was the one who outgrown me during the summer holiday between junior and senior high. Fortunately we went to the same senior high school and joined the club together. She enjoyed (and probably much better suited for) traditional/classical types of dance much more than Hip-Hop. She has a much stronger personality/feeling for something elegant. :)
But anyway, I didn't continue Hip-Hop after graduating from high school. I kind of knew that it wasn't really for me either.
 
During my undergrad years, I only danced in my freshman year-twice performed at the departmental talent shows and in my PE class, I took aerobic dance. That was it. My dancing life came to a pause since my second year of undergrad. But I was swimming during that two years, so at least my body can still move. I just went to the swimming pool as much as I feel like (on average 3 times a week, 1000m each time) because my dormitory is just 3 minutes from the university swimming pool. After two years of swimming phase I moved on to a yoga phase in my master years. Also partly because I came to England, I prefer indoor exercise (so to save money and to avoid dealing with the weather), something I can easily practice at home.
Probably because I used to dance so much, I learned to do yoga pretty quickly. It really reminds me of dancing and I really enjoyed it as well. The calmness and peace come with yoga was beyond expression. So I have been practicing yoga since 2006.

In my first year of PhD, I decided to make use of the diverse resources in Cambridge better so I started learning salsa. Unfortunately it didn't last because I couldn't find a dance partner who can practice with me regularly. I also tried belly dance for a few session in my first year, but I didn't  agree with the instructor's class organisation so I didn't continue. However, I really really enjoyed belly dance. But I didn't want to compromise for poorly-organised classes, therefore I just sticked with yoga for a while.  Fortunately, the university's dance club found another belly dance teacher who is much better with class organisation and full of enthusiasm for dancing. So I started belly dance from April 2010. That was definitely the best thing I've done this year.

It just made me realise how much I miss and how much I enjoy dancing.
I can really feel that I am here and living when I dance.
I just realised how much happiness dance brings me, and also reminds me how much dancing makes me who I am.
We spent 1.5 hours in the dancing studio for extra practice yesterday and after that, I came back home and danced for another hour. I couldn't stop and didn't want to stop, until I was really exhausted. A very deep feeling of happiness and satisfaction arose at the end of my dancing.
I can feel it in my every muscle, bone and even cells.
Dance makes me alive and makes me who I am.
I dance, so I live.