Is / Isn't / Is

Dance is my life. I hear people say that. I hear my own friends say that. It bothers me. If dance is your life, doesn't that mean you have a pretty shallow and narrowly-defined life?

Dance is not my life. Dance is one of the things I do to enjoy life. It's an expression of my life. It's an important facet of my life. But my life is larger than dance. I have my friends and family, I have my lover, I have my cat and a parakeet and books and movies and music. I have a life outside of dance.

And yet, I can't imagine my life without dance. Dance infiltrates everything I do. It's shaped the way I walk. It affects the way I reach for the salt on the top shelf of the cupboard. It influences how I pick up my car keys when I drop them. It allows me to glide effortless through the crowds at the market. Dance makes putting on socks an act of pleasure. It guides the way I breathe. Dance pulls me the way the moon pulls the tide.

Without dance my life would be less than it is. Without dance my life would be flat. Dance is...my life.

posted by greg @ 8:12 PM