I feel like I know a secret sometimes

As I teach my students dance, I often get the rare opportunity to catch their attention long enough to talk about the bigger picture a little. Ballroom and Latin dancing requires working with a partner, trusting and respecting another human being. I get to help kids believe they can try and succeed at something new, regardless of hurdles and past failings. My dance team has to be willing to be part of something bigger than themselves. To have any success as a dancer you have to be able and willing to put the world away for a few minutes, listen to some great music and express true joy. It's about so much more than how to count cha-cha.

One of my traditional assignments requires the students to think back to what their expectations were of a dance class, and by the end how the experience was different. During that same assignment I ask them to let me know what they feel like when they are dancing. My original intent was to get them to admit that dance was fun, the reality was so much more important and moving.

I had 12 year old girls who had never felt anything except awkward telling me that on the dance floor they felt like a princess. I get gangley boys saying they feel powerful during the tango. I had one 8th grader last time say that on the dance floor he gets a break from having to be the parent, and an 8th grader girl with a bad home-life said the dance floor was one of the few places she knew no one could hurt her.

I feel so lucky to be able to offer what little I can in the way of wisdom to kids who just soak it up like a sponge. And then I find a video like this that reminds me I know so little, but I'll keep trying. Watch this, it's... I'm lost for words.