Dancers Matter

Last night, as I was scrolling, I saw the announcement that Dancin’ would close on May 14 only a few months after opening. When we sat in the audience last month, I held my breath most of the time. I have never seen such artistry, strength and beauty all at the same time- I truly kept gasping at what these performers were able to do. I also held my breath because I had a sense this show wouldn’t stay open for long and I wanted to experience it all when I could.

In the performing arts world, there is a question you often hear. “Are you a dancer first or a singer first?” In the theatre, you have to be both. Let’s think about that for starters. Did Tom Brady also have to be really good at basketball? Nope. But dancers have to sing and singers have to dance. But I won’t get distracted- this is a post for another day. So typically performers lead with one or the other. There are remarkable singers in Dancin’ but this cast is made up of dancers first. This is a show that celebrates dance as an art form. Period.

So the closing of this show begs the question, does dance matter?

A few months ago, our friend and Katherine’s amazing dancer teacher and mentor Giulia Griffith shared a story from one of her fellow Rockettes, Khori Petinaud. I knew from the way Khori spoke about dancers and the dance world, that she was going teach us things. Katherine and I have been following Khori on social media closely since and we were thrilled to give her and her fellow dancers a standing ovation for their brilliant work in Dancin’ when we saw the performance in April.

This morning, as Katherine and I discussed the closing, she asked if I had seen Khori’s video from last night. I hadn’t but I have watched it twice since.

In just a little bit over 6 minutes, Khori teaches us all how to be a human and how to love the dancers in our lives. She starts by being so very sad so very publicly. This should not be notable but wow was it! Like she is crying and saying- ‘I’m so sad’. We so rarely witness this and this video is such a reminder that it is ok to do so. Khori teaches big life lessons like “sometimes the things you really love don’t stay around for long” and “we don’t always get the luxury of knowing when something will end so I will lean into the gratitude even more.” She could have stopped there and I would have been thinking about her words all day but she went on.

Khori paused and said “Dancers that have seen this show specifically- I hope that you felt seen. I hope that you felt valued. I hope that our show gave you a little bit of a glimpse of what could be possible for us as dancers. For how hard we work every day. And if we did that, then we did it.”

And she closes with

“Dance matters. And dancers matter.”

True artists make dance look easy. It is not. If I had not spent years peaking through studio windows admiring Katherine and her teachers as Katherine trained and trained and trained, I would not understand the work that goes into this craft so I understand when others don’t understand. But- please listen as these performers speak.

Dancers are artists. They are performers. They are athletes. And they push their bodies, their hearts and their minds endlessly day after day. Dancin’ should have stayed open for years so that the world could celebrate the craft of dance and the performers that bring this art to life. But it didn’t. So now let’s wait to see where these artists go next and let’s hope that this show is just one of many that will teach the world that dance and dancers matter.

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