MOVING TO MUSIC CHANGED EVERYTHING
I was one of those children that never liked gym class. While I liked to run around outside in my free time, I never had any coordination. I would fall over the football instead of kicking it, bang my chin on my knee when I attempted a summersault on the trampoline and had no arm strength or flexibility in my joints. Additionally, I would get a bright red head whenever I exercised, which I was always ashamed of.
I admired the sporty girls, envied their ability to vault weightlessly, do their flick flacks and splits, to feel confident in their bodies. I was a shy child, brainy and uncomfortable in my skin, and being so uncoordinated didn’t help to develop any trust in my body.
When I was a teenager, I got a new gym teacher. And she did something amazing: instead of pushing us to run faster and do complicated gymnastics, she started to teach classic dances. I realized that moving to music changed everything. I felt my body adapt to the movements. I liked it. And for the first time, I wanted to become better. From that moment on, my relationship with sports changed. I still dreaded gym class when the actual gymnastics happened, but the truth engraved in my brain “sports is evil” started to erode.
“I loved the moment a movement changed from being conscious and difficult to natural. Most of all, I loved to learn to express myself through dance, to find my own rhythm. ”
HOW A NEGATIVE SELF-IMAGE HELD ME BACK
When I enrolled at university, I tried aerobics and yoga and liked them. I even picked up running, which I used to dread. And I still got a bright red head every single time, but I slowly cared less and less.
All the while, I never forgot my experience with dancing. But I was still scared of enrolling in an actual dance class. My self-image of the awkward, uncoordinated child still lingered. How could I find my place along with those graceful, slender and confident dancers? At some point, I jumped over my shadow and tried my luck in a modern dance class. While the basics were fun, I felt out of place. As soon as the more advanced movements started that required flexibility, I realized I would never be at home there. After a few weeks, I quit.
“Dance helped me to finally feel at home in my body. To make peace with its flaws and limits and to be proud of its abilities.”
HOW BELLY DANCE INCREASED MY SELF-CONFIDENCE
But still, in my heart, I knew that dancing was something that belonged to my core. When one of the few other girls in my engineering course told me about her oriental dance class, it sparked my interest. A dance class where everyone is welcome? Where curves are accepted? Where I’d be only among women as a contrast to my male-dominated field of study? Where flexibility is not the main requirement? Yes, please!
And so, my dance journey took off. I enrolled in my first introductory class at ZeoT and was hooked. I liked the music, the patient and fun teachers and the new kind of movements. I was never at the top of my class, never the fastest learner, but I looked forward to every single class. I loved feeling my body move in new ways. I loved noticing muscles develop I never knew I had. I loved seeing my progress. I loved the moment a movement changed from being conscious and difficult to natural. Most of all, I loved to learn to express myself through dance, to find my own rhythm.
“It’s my greatest joy to watch someone blossom, from her first tentative steps to confident movements.”
TEACHING OTHERS TO SHINE THROUGH DANCE
Dance helped me to finally feel at home in my body. To make peace with its flaws and limits and to be proud of its abilities. It even helped me overcome my shyness, to get on stage and dance in front of strangers.
That’s what finally motivated me to become a teacher. It’s my greatest joy to watch someone blossom, from her first tentative steps to confident movements. And while I am proud of all my students, I’m secretly the proudest of those who start as I did. Shy, unsure, a little awkward. Gradually, they dare to take up more space, they become more confident, they dare to break out a little bit of what I’m telling them and finally find their own way of moving their bodies, free and with a smile on their faces. It’s a privilege to be part of their journey.
In 2003, Karin attended her first Oriental dance lesson at ZeoT Zürich and has not stopped dancing since. She also performs Chinese and Bollywood dance plus various fusions. In addition to being an electrical engineer and science writer Karin teaches oriental dance every Tuesday evening at ZeoT Zürich.