Become So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Finding Your Passion

When I think of passion, the definition that comes to mind is: an intense desire or enthusiasm for something. Meaning that whatever you are enthusiastic about can be defined as your passion. For me, one of my biggest passions in the past few years would be swing dancing.

Now if you know anything about me, you probably know that I never did dance growing up. I played sports, did choir and read. That was my life. I would have never thought that dance would become such an important part of my life. I have been swing dancing for about three years now. While for some, that may not seem like a lot, but that includes dancing two, three or even four times a week.

If you don't know anything about country or western swing, it is a style of partner dance based loosely on dancing to country music. Western or country swing includes a combination of partner dancing and line dances.

Swing allows me to show off, and that is not something I normally do. All of the swing that I have learned, is from my continual participation in the events here at Snow College. For me, it is a form of therapy, and it is one of the only things that gets me through the everyday stresses of life.

It is also, where I have bonded with most of my close friends. These include not only other students at Snow, but also my friends from Provo. It has become a critical part of my life and a huge aspect of my personality quirks. I honestly don't remember how I got into swing, but I know that I am so glad I did.

For me, line dancing allows me to add my personality into a song. I have certain moves I should do, but I can add variation into the dance and make it more fun for myself. I like to add in the variations when I am trying to show how good I am, but I do a lot of teaching others, so it is not very often.

When I say I help teach, I help teach not only line dances, but also regular swing moves. I can teach most moves from the guy's perspective or the girl's perspective. Most of that is because there are not a lot of guys who ask girls to dance here, so I learned to lead.

Martha Graham once said, "Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion."

For me, I am very confident when it comes to swing, whether I know what I am doing or I don't. I just act like I do and then show off my confidence and enjoy myself. There have been many times where I was just going through the motions and received a lot of compliments even though I did not feel like I did very well. It's not about being the best. For me, it is about having the most fun that I can.

Now, I'm not saying that you have to love swing. I know plenty of people who don't and some of them are my favorite people, I am just saying that you should give it a chance. Swing is something that can be enjoyed by everyone. I have gone to community events where you see senior couples swing dancing. It is not all about lifts and tricks, though you can certainly add them if you choose. I have even taught my little sister a few swing moves that we do together. #peaknights #countrydancing #countryswingdancing #countryswing

If you are interested in learning more about country swing dancing, check out this link! You can also look up line dances and swing moves on YouTube to learn how to do it.

https://www.countrydanceonline.com/country-swing-dance/