How Dork Dancing Began
Hello, my name is Ethan and you can call me a dork. I am #dorkdancing for mental health. I started Dork Dancing 4 years ago, back in 2016, but funny enough, for most of my life I haven’t danced — at all.
When I was a kid, probably when I was 7 or 8, I discovered that I enjoyed the simplicity and fun of dancing alone in my room to my favorite music. Sometimes my parents saw me & gave me some basic reassurance, which was encouraging. But as I got older, I became less comfortable with dancing.
In middle school, I was socialized out of it and became socially anxious. I was never comfortable at school dances and never learned how to dance in front of others. Nobody else seemed comfortable dancing either, so I always avoided the dance floor. This continued for more than 10 years, I never danced.
Middle school, afraid. High school, awkward. College, toxic. These were the most uncomfortable years. The going out scene was sometimes difficult for me, because relying on alcohol didn’t feel good or healthy. Night life, and spending lots of money on alcohol, wasn’t my favorite but it was tough because that’s what everyone seemed to do. I didn’t enjoy bars or club dancing, but that’s where the fun was supposed to be. None of it felt good to me, or authentic. Dancing, drunk or sober, was entirely lost. Growing up, that was a danceless decade. I forgot about it entirely.
Things changed when I was in the presence of a close friend, Zake. He was my roommate and I felt comfortable being around him. We turned on some music and I just started dancing. I hadn’t done that comfortably, in front of someone else, for years. I just danced to dance, but I discovered it was fun and funny. My friend was laughing and he was really encouraging.
So he decided to record & I thought it was pretty funny too. My friend wanted to join me next time, while recording again. It was even more fun, because we both let loose.
We ended up showing this video to our friends on the first and second floor of our apartment building, and soon enough our small room was filled with 10 people.
During this time, with these friends, I was figuring myself out. What was important to me and why. Just 2 years prior, in 2014, I was hospitalized because of a manic episode. It was my first experience with mental illness and it changed everything for me. Since then, I have been trying to understand mental illness, and my relationship to it, better.
I knew I wasn’t alone. Mental illness is a huge problem. And because of my experience, I felt like I had some insight and could do something about it.
Dancing in my room with my friends was fun. And I observed the joy it brought to all of us. It was powerful. So there, in that room, I discovered dance as an effective & fun form of therapy. I learned that accepting myself helps others accept themselves too. And it was a beautiful & fun process to experience & witness.
Months after these videos were recorded, I had a second manic episode and was hospitalized again. Funny enough, just because you want to help others with mental health doesn’t mean you have it figured out either.
But I returned to the dancing, alone again in my room. That was consistently helpful for me. It was fun, funny, and alleviating. Eventually, I gained the courage to record again and share on social media. My friends loved watching. They could see, or feel, my joy & energy. This gave me more encouragement to continue.
One follower thought I was hilarious, and called me “such a dork!” She was exactly right, that’s exactly what I was, and that’s exactly my type of dancing! That’s how the name, and practice, of dork dancing for mental health began.
Eventually I decided to leave the safety & privacy of my room and practice dancing outside, publicly at the park, on my own, to challenge myself and my anxieties, while learning what that experience would look like. It wasn’t too bad. People didn’t seem to care. I could be in my own world, dork dancing & having fun, so long as I gave myself permission to do so. With that, I felt confident enough to dork dance with friends outside, in different places. One thing was consistent, it was always fun.
I moved to China in January 2020 to reunite with my roommate from 2016, Zake. Then COVID19 hit and during Chinese New Years, while out of the country, canceled my return flight to China. I found myself in Vietnam, where I was able to reflect on my values.
I was most passionate about mental health & entrepreneurship, so I wanted to start something new, while advocating for my beliefs. With COVID19 taking over the world and creating a global mental health crisis, I felt like this was the right moment for me to step up by opening up.
With the guidance of a free 1 hour consulting session at midnight, I was highly advised to double down on my dork dancing efforts. They told me the magic was there. I listened because that sat with me well. I too believed that dork dancing was magic.
Holding this belief, this conviction, I decided to do something many people would find extreme. I made a public announcement, and an offer. My name is Ethan, I will be dork dancing out on the beach everyday at 5PM to advocate for mental health. For those who are interested, join!
I made a Facebook post in an expat group and received about 350 likes and 100 positive comments. That excitement transferred offline too. Within a month, Dork Dancing grew into a thing.
In 41 days, 119 dork dancers from Da Nang, Vietnam showed up, dancing for a total of 405 times. Each dork dancer danced over 3X, on average. In total, at the beach we danced for approximately 51 hours. The average group size was nearly 10.
Then lockdown hit again. Now we are continuing online, hosting daily “Digital Dork Dancing” events. You can join us everyday, any day, at 5PM Vietnam.
The design of the event is strange, yet fun. We meet, chat for a few, mute the videos and then dance like a dork in the privacy and comfort of our rooms, separately yet together.
In our first week online, 24 dork dancers have joined (8 new, not from the beach) to dance for a total of 51 times. The average group size is over 7 and on average each Dork has attended more than twice.
Also, we have started a social media #dorkdancingchallenge #dorkchallenge #dorkdancing for mental health. The rules are simple. 1. Dork 2. Share 3. Challenge, or tag, 3 friends. It’s been fun thus far, and it seems like people are enjoying it.
Today, I feel more confident, aligned, and excited than I ever have. This excitement is rooted in an understanding. I have found a real opportunity to make an impact, advocating for my beliefs while helping spread joy & awareness. The mission is to party against stigma, doubt, and illness to overcome challenges in mental health.
I believe this should be my life’s work, that I can make the biggest difference dedicating myself to Dork Dancing & building this up as a non profit & mental health movement. The dream, or vision, is to get the world dork dancing.
First, I need to problem-solve how I can do that for myself. I invite you to be part of this journey. Thanks for reading and showing interest in how Dork Dancing began.
Dork Dancing depends entirely on charitable giving. We hope you may consider supporting. We offer some fun rewards too.