Dancing Through Healing
A year ago, I made a decision that majorly changed my life. I live with a mood disorder that has often made life extremely challenging. My first year of law school was the most difficult experience I’ve had. One night in April 2023, I was having a particularly rough night, and I decided to dance to some Just Dance videos. It did the trick, and I couldn’t stop smiling. While dancing, I remembered that someone in my life had recently started ballroom dancing simply because it was a thing that brought her joy. I decided to take a page from her book and signed up for a dance fitness class. I was looking for body-positive classes and Current Wellness was the only place I found that was intentional about being affirming of all people and bodies.
Every day until dance class, I questioned why I was stepping so far out of my comfort zone. I reminded myself that if I hated it, I never had to go back. The thing is that I didn’t hate it. I actually loved it. On Instagram that night, I talked about how welcoming everyone was and how I never felt othered. I knew I’d be back. For a while, I wasn’t committed. I wouldn’t go back for another month. And then another month. And then another month. And then another. I’d start going weekly in August, but I’d do the drop-in rate until September. But things started clicking after that. At times, dance would be the only thing I had to look forward to each week. I didn’t just love dance; I needed it. I needed it to help me manage stress, become a happier and more positive person, learn how to be in community after depression isolated me, etc.
Last December, it was time for me to head to Charlotte for the holidays, and after complaining about how much I’d miss dancing, my dance instructor made a somewhat off- handed comment about me doing my own choreography. It was something I hadn’t ever taken seriously, but I immediately latched onto the hyperfixation. It was pretty much all I was doing all day, every day over Winter Break. What I didn’t know was that I’d show my instructor my choreography. What I really didn’t know was that I’d end up teaching my choreography each week. Choreography has become a pivotal way of expressing myself. Teaching has allowed me to hold space for other people. Every time someone shares part of their story with me, it feels like an immense honor, and it reinforces that I’m serious about wanting to keep doing this.
Dance class has held me through trying times. Through a breakup, an on-campus shooting, and hardcore mental health challenges, Wednesdays at 6:30 have been my one constant. My dance instructor is now one of my close friends. I work at Current Wellness as a wellness coordinator now. I do yoga there every week, where I get to experience resting in community as a form of resistance. It’s been magical. All it took was stepping outside of my comfort zone one time.
-Dev Green
