One update is that I’m going to stick with my Saturday dance class routine (I will do the Friday drop-in class in another studio if there is time conflict). This is because I will have a weekly activity on Thursday night… With this change in routine in mind, it felt less painful to wake up on Saturday morning to get to my dance class. It felt more like something I plan to do for a longer time.

Prior to the lesson, I also remembered to have a fuller breakfast and coffee in the morning. Even though I did not have the best sleep last night, it was nice to have something in my stomach before the lesson. It has made the whole lesson less painful because my blood sugar has something to rely on.

Today we also had a substitute teacher with a different approach. She is a lot softer and flowly than the usual teacher. I really like my usual teacher’s style, but the way the substitute teacher encouraged us to move our body is just wonderful and comfortable. I feel that I no longer have to force myself to activate parts of my body that I usually don’t use. It is also nice to learn the same movements based on a different (softer) interpretation. This allows me to memorise the movements from new perspectives. We will definitely miss her!

I also learned that contemporary dance has so many different styles, compared to ballet. People also look differently when they do the same movements. I am not a ballet expert but I think my movements heavily rely on my ballet training. It may make my movements look a little bit more rigid than my classmates who do street dance and other genre. At the same time, I do like feeling and finding connections in these two dance genres. I think one dance helps me to find disciplines and posture, whereas the other one feels more applied. I need contemporary dance class to apply the movements and skill sets into my daily life.

Finally, now I also understand the lessons’ sequences. My lessons usually include two parts: warm-up, movement 1 (more floor work based), traveling and movement 2. I find it quite nice to get used to this pattern. I can see how my body is getting used to this as well.

Now since I no longer have Thursday for my dance class on my calendar, I can continue to progress my dance journey with ease. All the time slots and schedules are final now. I can repeat another round of introduction before moving to improver level. I want to enjoy contemporary dance class and make it a part of my life ✨.