Week at Modern Motion: First Impressions as an Intern

As a newbie freshman who had just finished her first semester in college, I questioned myself at the beginning whether I would succeed during my time here. Not only have I never taken an internship before, but I have also never even taken a dance class. But, despite some jitters, I was excited to start a new experience!

For my first day, the task was to simply observe the surroundings of the studio where I would spend the next couple of weeks here. When I arrived at around 6 PM, there were a couple of classes that were going on: Classics 4T and Classics 3T. After staff introductions, I found myself sitting in one of the studios, where a ballet session was taking place. In my carefully prepared business-casual attire, I felt a bit out of place in a room full of ballerinas. 

Expected for a dance studio, at least one pale-blue side of the wall was covered top-to-bottom with a mirror. Barres were placed in the center of the room, which seemed to me to be used as a security for balance, as the dancers relied on nothing more than one foot as they practiced different ballet positions. Other than the slogan overhead  door- “Be confident. Be bold. Be you” -which was right by where I sat, the room was also notable for the palpable amount of concentration. Students swept their feet back and forth, arms were raised up and down, and made calculated movements with their limbs as a combination of music and instructions filled the room. Yet, there was also a rather lively and comfortable atmosphere that surrounded the children. 

The next class I visited was the tap dancing class. It was interesting going directly from one dance style to another, and comparing the two together. One of the main differences that I immediately saw was the attire of dancers. The outfits consisted of more casual clothing and black tap shoes. I enjoyed hearing the rhythms that were made from those shoes, which were clacking against the hard wooden floor. While the one word I would describe ballet is “graceful”, I would describe tap dance to be “vibrant”. There were also some identifiable similarities between the dance styles. Both placed an importance on timing and form.

I am by no means a dancer- it is only by the persuasion of being covered by other peers that I will be able to go on a dance floor. But by taking an inside look of the dance lessons, I thought that I could form a connection between myself and dancers.

Just like writing, drawing, or any other art form, dancing is something that is needed to be comfortable with before allowing other people to see you practicing it. Expression is a two step process: first knowing how to do it, and then being able to share it to others. It takes hard commitment and practice to be able to fluently accomplish both. So although I have never tried dance school before, with my own experiences (perhaps even including this one) I was able to understand my surroundings better and bring my memories back to the first steps that I took to achieve sharing my own expressions.

​-Miriam Kim