Do We Have More Issues Than Before or More Awareness Than in the Past?

As a Dance Teacher and Movement Coach, I find it my mission to take my students into a journey of self-discovery every time they walk into the studio space. That's the only true value that I see in any form of art. Self-discovery is the ultimate driving force of self-growth which eventually results in positive changes that our society is built on. Although dance and movement are considered non-verbal activities, at the end of the day, we all know that powerful imagery and guidance can come only from one's ability to clearly communicate them to students. After all, that's the only way to translate the natural sensations of the movement to someone who is still learning what it means to be a mover instead of mechanically trying to move his/her body. I highly encourage a discussion with my students after each exercises. At the end of the lesson, every student shares his/her new discovery. You will be surprised how much you can learn from your students and how much you can learn about them when they share their thoughts about what they discovered during the lesson.

There is one student ( we will call him Jack) who always walks into the studio with the shoulders that reflect 30 years of working as a security guard in jail and a few more postural deviations of a customer representative in the body shop. Despite his postural challenges, he tremendously enjoys dancing and always contributes interesting and valuable thoughts into our group discussions. Last time, after my asking him about his new discovery his answer was very honest- "I discovered I have more issues with my posture and weight shifts than I thought I had before", he stated. Well, I never had teachers who told me I had issues. I always had teachers that taught me that I had a lot of opportunities to overcome some challenges. My own philosophy is that we as individuals and society always have the same amount of issues and challenges. The only thing that truly changes is the level of our awareness of our potential to improve in certain aspects of those challenges. That's why, the only response that I had for my student was that he simply became more aware of his body and now could feel and identify the spots that could be slightly improved with some practice.

Whether we deal with sexual abuse, racial discrimination, or just a dance pattern, the ultimate truth is that those issues have always been a reality all around the globe. And even though some people would want us to believe that they got even worse, I honestly want to believe that they did not. We simply are becoming more aware and vocal about them. Hopefully, some of our leaders will also become more proactive and take the next step that follows the awareness which is the practical application of the concepts that can improve the pattern that we've been following for so too long.