Dance Like an Elephant

One of the challenges I face as a “mature” dancer on the Irish scene, is getting my body off the ground.  When I danced ballet as a teenager, I thought nothing of leaping through the air as light and graceful as a kite on the breeze. 

Years of pregnancies and childbirth have taken its toll on my body and I have to work extra hard not to imitate an elephant when performing a “light” jig.

I have to admit, when I watch others compete or perform in Irish dance, my eye is drawn to the trim, thinner dancer.  She is better suited for the kicks and leaps than my padded frame allows. 

It’s frustrating, the skinny me that still lurks beneath the surface remembers what it was like to dance with less restriction.

Luckily, the very fact that I am dancing moves me in a positive direction.  The more I dance, the more calories I burn.  The more calories I burn, the faster those fat cells melt away, revealing the skinny me that is still lurking beneath the surface.    

 That weight-less feeling is liberating, a way of severing the ties gravity has to my body.