My dream was never to be a professional. Ever since I was five years old I’ve always wanted to dance. My dream to dance started like many other sports stories, I was influenced by my older sister. In the fall of 2004, I was adopted into an all-white family when I was only four years old. The first thing I wanted to do was be just like my older sister. My sister was my very first friend, anything she did, I wanted to do. I’ve been looking up to her ever since we met. When she started dance classes and I saw my first dance recital something just clicked. As soon as I was old enough, I started my first ballet class. I walked into the class and was instantly uncomfortable and scared. Even when I was five years old I could tell I was different from the other girls. They walked in with their thin blonde hair wrapped in perfect buns on the crown of their heads. My hair was too curly and short to be made in a bun. Most of them had started dancing a year earlier than me and knew most of the steps. After a few classes, I stopped caring about what the other girls looked like or what they could do. I already started to love dance. I would get so excited when my end of the year performances came up. Before the recital I would tell my mom “ I’m on the left side in the second row?” she would smile and say “okay we will be looking for you.” At the time I didn’t realize or care that I was the only black kid so it was very easy to find me in a dance performance. For years after that, I kept going to that dance studio and learning different types of dance styles. Finally, in 5th grade, I was old enough to be on the competition team. This was the first dance team I would be on and it would be the start of my dance journey.
Before being on this studio dance team I had only just taken classes. Now I got to be a part of a team that was specifically chosen. That felt special to me, to have a coach want me on their team for my talent. From 5th grade to 7th, I continued dancing at this studio and getting on a higher and more advanced team. However, my older sister during that time got into a high school dance team and it was all that my family could talk about. To keep up with her, I decided to join the high school team in 8th grade. Little did I know it was the best and worst decision I would ever make.
The Chaska High School Dance team is known for many things. The biggest thing they are known for is going to state every year for 25 years in a row. Most people know that they are an intense program, but nobody knows how intense they are. In my first year on the team, I was a little 8th grader on a team full of high schoolers. In the first few days of practice, I was nervous and scared. Learning how to keep up with everyone would be one of my biggest struggles. I remember one day after practice my coach had pulled me aside and told me that if I was the weakest one on the team and I needed to step up my game or leave. Hearing that was very tough for me. Never before had I heard an adult talk to me like that. At practice, I tried to stay focused and do the dance moves exactly as I learned them. Throughout the years I got better and better. The other girls on the team would struggle with me and soon they would become my best friends. I learned slower than the other girls but I learned how to keep up. For the first time in my life, I officially fit in.
My senior year of high school dance was going great. I was on the varsity kick team and captain of the JV jazz team. Practices were still difficult but this time I could keep up, and I was even called one of the leaders of the team. Everything was finally going my way. I was finally being seen as the dancer I knew I could be. Until conference championships. The month before conference championships by coach had made it very clear that we have not lost the title of conference champions in 15 years. The whole team was working hard to not disappoint. Before the performance, all the girls on the team decided to have a meeting. The talk was to fill each other up with love and appreciation because we knew our coach wouldn’t do it. Each girl on the team had said what they would do to make this the best performance. When we walked out on that floor, it felt magical. I couldn’t hear the crowd cheering just the voices of my fellow teammates. I was ready, I knew my team was ready, and we were going to show the audience how ready we were. That conference championship performance was the best I had ever danced. We got first place and won the championship. It had been the best day of my life. Then it became the worst. My coach had pulled me aside and told me that she was taking me out of the dance. She had told them they decided on the performance. Her exact words were “you just don’t blend in enough.” That was the moment dance had broken my heart.
During that time I could only nod and say okay. The rest of the year I would just go through the motions. I hated to dance, and I hated being in practice. At night, I would think to myself “why do I do this?” The year ended and I was finally free. However, I still felt like something was missing. Once I officially had picked Colorado Mesa, my mother had started her research on the dance team here. I had told her I wanted nothing to do with dance teams anymore. She sat me down and asked if I remembered my first dance class. She asks if I remembered how scared but excited I was. She told me that I didn’t have to try out but if I didn’t I might regret it.
I ended up trying out for the Mavettes dance team, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The girls were fun and supportive of each other. The coach was positive and encouraged girls to be the best without putting them down. What I learned was perseverance in difficult times can lead to great and successful outcomes. During my time on the team, I was fortunate enough to go to nationals in Las Vegas. I am no longer on the Mavettes dance team because I wanted to put more of my focus into getting my degree.
By Patience Carlson
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