And the dance goes on

Every day for the past two weeks has felt like a year. In a few days' time, I went from a cancelled spring break trip to a cancelled senior year. I left my home in Los Angeles two months earlier than I expected, returning to Colorado to finish out my last eight weeks of college online.

As someone who adores school (believe me, if I could get paid to be in college forever I would), having my last few weeks taken away from me has been extraordinarily painful. Especially because I study dance, a passion that cannot easily be moved online and into bedroom-sized spaces.

When everything started to fall apart a week ago, I despaired. How could I leave the studio spaces and the people I love so much? I spent a four-hour rehearsal doing more crying than dancing. I left behind my senior thesis, the dance class I teach at a high school, my Thursday night rehearsal time, my beloved barre spot by the window I have stood at for four years.

I am still heartbroken. Nothing can alleviate the way I am mourning this abrupt and unexpected end of college.

But more than that, I am so grateful - for all the times I dragged myself out of bed to go to ballet in the morning, for those late night rehearsals, for the Friday classes I took just because I wanted to. I am thankful for a college education and a community I loved so much that I did not want to leave. What a gift.

In the past two weeks, I have learned I can take dance with me wherever I go. Sure, it may look a bit different, but I don't leave dance behind when I leave the studio. I boogied in my bedroom, did ballet class in my apartment kitchen, and took contemporary classes in my living room. Now that I am back in Colorado, I have arranged all my bedroom furniture along the walls so I can have as much floor space as possible.

How blessed I am to have something I love so much. Nothing can take dance away from me - not a bad review or rejection and certainly not a virus.

The dance goes on. It continues even when the world seems dark. In fact, this is when it is most important.