And so I Dance

Growing up I danced. When I was in 9th grade, my sister told me about this dance team that was at my high school called the Kingwood Fillies. I knew it was extremely hard to get on this dance team with brutal try outs. But I thought, why not? So, that is what I did. I tried out for the Kingwood Fillies Dance Team. And what do you know? I made that team. What a great feeling that was! I didn't know it at the time, but seeing my name on the Kingwood Fillies Dance Team roster ended my ballet chapter and began my other dancing career. Being a Fillie was challenging and rewarding (Doesn't it seem like anything you do in life that is worth trying is usually that way?). We had pratices for hours after school each day of the week, all day Saturday pratices, Dance Camps during the summer. I met so many fun people, and I learned how to high kick, jazz dance, do hip hop, and lyrical (my favorite). I tried out for officer (another brutal set of try outs), but never made officer. When I asked my director why, she basically told me that I did make officer, but she didn't want that many officers to have to replace in the future once I graduated. I was crushed. I couldn't believe that she said I had all the points, but she didn't want me to be an officer. This was when I learned about never giving up. It may seem like such a silly thing to be crushed over, but what a life lesson this was. I ended up becoming my director's "rock" as she called me. I was there for her in ways she never thought any one would be. I even led the entire dance team some times while she was taking care of other things. I was glad in the end the I didn't become an officer, and I was also glad that I could help out when I was needed. God always has a plan. Things happen for reasons we can't explain. This was one of those times I had to remember that.

Being a Fillie requried a lot of time and dedication. During Football season we would dance during half time. We would line up on the side of the football field towards the end of the second quarter and stand at attention. We couldn't move or talk; even if we had a thousand mosquitoes biting the crap out of us, we couldn't move to knock them off or scratch an itch. Torture. During my senior year in high school and being on the Fillies we had a group of girls decide to rob several stores, and they eventually got caught. Well one of the girls in the group was a Fillie. There was this big up roar in our town. There were news people calling my director, wanting to talk to us after we had practices, and even filiming us while we danced at half time. I remember during one half time we were dancing a high kick routine and being on the end (cause I'm short), I looked over and not 5 feet away from me was a news crew recording me dancing. I did what any one would do, plastered a huge fake smile on my face, blocked the camera man out of my mind (not caring if I was about to kick him or not since he was in the way), and danced my heart out. Sure enough, I found out a day later that he was filiming for a segment on the news called "Bad Girls." Yep, there I was dancing on tv on "Bad Girls." My claim to fame as it so happens to be. Anyway, I danced good on tv!

My favorite part of being a Fillie was competition season. We would travel to all these places in Texas and even to Disney World and perform team dances, solos, duets, etc. I danced many dances including duets, trios, and solos. I won various awards for my dances. I even won an award for having one of the top 10 solos in the entire state of Texas....twice! Very fun. I got to just simply dance. My favorite part of dancing in the Fillies is getting out there among thousands of people knowing all eyes are on me, and the second my music would start I would somehow make everyone fade away and it was just me alone dancing. I loved it. The Fillies would end of winning Nationals. We were that good. They are still winning Nationals today.

When I graduated from high school, Fillies was over. Dancing was over. That chapter in my life ended so quickly I didn't even know what to do. I tried dancing in college, but it never was the same. So now, I find myself hearing music I danced to and letting people know I danced to that song. I even get a little tug on the heart string when I hear "Total Eclipse of the Heart" since that was the actual song I danced to to try out for the Fillies. I will always dance. Maybe not like I did when I danced ballet or on the Fillies. I dance around the house and at work. I have to dance. I can't not. Dancing is a big part of who I am and I can't let that go.