The Dance Myth that is Holding You Back
You say you can’t dance? Perfect. Here at Dork Dancing, we are recruiting “dork dancers,” those who identify as dorks. Dorks are people who look & feel awkward, goofy, or out of place on the inside. They often carry a sense of social anxiety and on the dance floor, that carries. We love to dance with those who relate to this feeling of “dance anxiety,” especially with the self-proclaimed “bad dancers.”
Yes, that’s right. Bad dancers. It’s who we, at dork dancing, want to dance with most, but it’s also those who are least likely to show up. It’s a class of dancers who are letting their dance anxiety win. It’s that anxiety, that fear, that holds us back from dancing in the first place.
The decision to avoid is what contributes to any kind of genuine “bad dancing.” How can you be good at dancing if you don’t dance at all? That’s the only way to be “bad” at dancing. Deciding to be bad by deciding not to dance.
You say you can’t dance? Then sure, we will take that as your word. You are right, you can’t dance because you aren’t giving yourself permission to dance. And we get it, it’s scary. What might others think? But it’s deeper than that. It’s not others' judgments that you are most likely afraid of, it’s your own.
We invite you to be kinder to yourself. At the very least, give yourself permission to accept your “badness” and lean into it. Are you a bad dancer? Ok, then you can be a dork dancer. We are looking for you because we do this FOR you.
We don’t fault you for holding back. It makes complete sense. The culture of dance is plagued by dance anxiety, built upon an unspoken lie that has spread. You need to “dance well” in order to dance. No. That’s not true. You need to “dance badly” in order to dance. The logic is there. Think about it.
Dance discomfort is a learned social behavior. But dance confidence and dance comfort can be learned too. It’s your decision whether you want to change.
We encourage you to “think different.” Steve Jobs told us to not be trapped by dogma, by other peoples’ way of thinking. Dance culture has taught us, by-and-large, that we can’t dance. But we can.
When you are ready to take a different approach, we have an opportunity. We are a community of like-minded, often anxious, dancers waiting to “dance badly” with you.
The spectrum between bad dancing & good dancing is measured entirely in a willingness to look like a fool and have fun. It is not measured by any particular movements. What you might perceive as bad dancing is actually good dancing.
You can typically tell the quality of dancing by the smile on a dancer's face. If they are feeling free and having fun, yes that is good dancing. That is moving well. And that takes time and practice. Funny enough, dancing like a dork takes practice too. For some it may be easier than others.
If our collective concern against dancing is merely, I’ll look like a dork because I “can’t dance.” Then flip it on it’s head. The goal isn’t to avoid looking like a dork. The goal is to look like one. Can you do that? Can you try that? We bet you can.
Have you ever danced alone to the music when nobody was watching? Hmmmm, yes. That’s it! You just might know what to do already! So what’s your decision? Are you a bad dancer? Or are you a dork dancer? Same person, different willingness. One keeps you on the sidelines and one gets you moving.
You can dork dance. We know it. Dork Dancing is an invitation for YOU to give yourself permission. We aren’t looking to master the beat with any kind of impressive moves. We are looking to embrace what’s within. Together we are letting go, finding our inner dorks.
It isn’t about the moves. You get that by now. Dork dancing is not revealed on the outside. You can hit the beat or miss it.
It’s about what’s inside. Discovering what’s uniquely you. For some, dork dancing is moving your left arm side to side, routinely and repetitively. For others, it’s moving that booty. The key is to just allow yourself to move as you would like, without judgement, and loving the feeling of doing that.
Bad dancing is the decision not to dance, but “dancing badly” is something we want to do because that melts into good dancing, which is letting go and dancing freely. The difference between bad & good dancing is only a decision: measured in your willingness to look like a dork.
We want to get people “dancing badly, well,” for mental health.
Dork dancing on the outside might look like “bad dancing,” but in reality, for us, it’s impressive! And if you happen to look good in that traditional way, that’s OK too, it can happen over time. We’ll still accept you. Give the video below a watch to know what we mean.
Dork Dancing depends entirely on charitable giving. We hope you may consider supporting. We offer some fun rewards too.