Iulia Dobrin reflects on the demands of balancing professional dance alongside education and the life lessons creative arts leave behind.
Whenever people asked me what extracurriculars I did before college, I would always hesitate to say that I danced — with the disclaimers that I wasn’t very good and that I never did it very competitively.
The truth is that I love performing arts, and I did just about any activity related to music growing up. I’ve played piano, guitar, flute and saxophone over the years. I did theater, singing lessons, glee club and marching band. It all began with dance, which I started at around 3 years old and continued for 15 years.
Somewhere along the way, I lost pride in doing what I loved so much. Maybe it’s the competitive nature of these types of activities. I have a bit of a competitive side.
However, when the time came in elementary school where all my friends that I danced with were moving into competitive dance classes, my parents said no year after year. I knew it was because of time and financial restrictions, but I still felt left behind watching my peers that I grew up performing with move on without me... Keep reading on The Michigan Daily.
Whenever people asked me what extracurriculars I did before college, I would always hesitate to say that I danced — with the disclaimers that I wasn’t very good and that I never did it very competitively.
The truth is that I love performing arts, and I did just about any activity related to music growing up. I’ve played piano, guitar, flute and saxophone over the years. I did theater, singing lessons, glee club and marching band. It all began with dance, which I started at around 3 years old and continued for 15 years.
Somewhere along the way, I lost pride in doing what I loved so much. Maybe it’s the competitive nature of these types of activities. I have a bit of a competitive side.
However, when the time came in elementary school where all my friends that I danced with were moving into competitive dance classes, my parents said no year after year. I knew it was because of time and financial restrictions, but I still felt left behind watching my peers that I grew up performing with move on without me... Keep reading on The Michigan Daily.