Me at a break dancing competition in 2014 in my hometown, man this event was crazy and we hadn't had one like it since.

You ever look back on a period in your life and go, "Damn, I actually was really committed!", that would be me at this period. When I went to college back in 2013 I had regrets from my high school experience from never having done the things I wanted to do. From mid 90's on up to recently, they sell you on the idea that making it to college is the goal, but never really tell you what college is supposed to be like (which is another conversation itself). Regardless, upon entering college I wanted to make changes, develop myself in ways I only fantasized about beforehand.

Now, even then, I was wholeheartedly committed to the furry fandom and it was after watching a dance competition at a Midwest con (can't remember which one, it was a small one), I decided that enough was enough, and I was going to learn how to dance and perform at the conventions. And not just any style, I wanted to learn how to breakdance!

Course, back then, I had no idea where to even start. Here I was at an art college with no dance club, no knowledge of how to find the appropriate space, no equipment, and no teacher. My first thought was to watch Jabowackeez videos (as they were the only dance crew I knew of thanks to watching "America's Best Dance Crew" season 1 years prior https://youtu.be/12f4yNauTe4?t=49). I watched all their (now considered old) performances which led me to Les Twins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu0grjZGXRc&ab_channel=OfficialHHI. Back then all my breakdancing tutorials were taught by Viscany TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14WfVM98qGA&ab_channel=VincaniTV and I was watching Music Videos to try and mimic the movements of Chris Brown, Jacob Lattimore, etc.,

I found other students who had a background in dance and winded up putting together Dance Club at my school, to study and practice. It was a lot of fun and I learned to overcome my fear of dancing in front of others over time. It wasn't until I was finished with my Freshman year that I returned to my hometown and learned that one of my cousin's friends was teaching a breakdancing class for adults (a rarity), and I enthusiastically hopped on board immediately. I had also signed up for a Hip Hop Dance class on Saturdays, so 3-4 times a week I was practicing and training.

Our 'recital' came 2014 when we performed for college students at a open mic night event that had quite crowd...I ended up straining my hamstring trying to do the splits XD (It took all Fall 2015 to heal from that.) After another year of Dance Club at my college, my hometown announced a big breakdancing competition happening. Dancers from all over (including international) were coming and we had the summer to practice and perpare.

There was some AMAZING dancers, I mean real heavy hitters. It was all in all a fantastic learning experience- I don't think I ever have been that committed to dance since then (I was training 4-5 days a week easy). Ever since then I've been slowly developing my craft, became obsessed with Les Twins videos, performed at multiple events, won a dance comp at a con, met some amazing people (some of which have gone on to dance and win competitions in the fandom). These days I don't dance nearly as much due to my schedule, but I yearn for the day I can return to developing my craft (and get a damn fursuit already) and performing at cons.

I say this all because its amazing to see where I once was at age 18, afraid to dance with no skill in it whatsoever, to actually participating in competitions and being unafraid.

Hope you all enjoy and if you have any questions about dancing, let me know!

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