39 Of The Country’s Greatest Dancers Explain Why They Dance

The Huffington Post  |  By
“To dance is to be out of yourself,” Agnes de Mille famously proclaimed. “Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.” Although the iconic 20th century dancer and choreographer makes it look easy, it can be difficult to accurately put the allure of dance into words. By nature, dance is a wordless form of expression, translating emotions and thoughts into physical movements. But we wondered, is there a way to explain why we dance?

We turned to some of the world’s most talented ballet figures — and few aspiring ones too — to find the answer. Dancers from across the country — from the American Ballet Theatre to Ballet San Jose, the Kansas City Ballet to the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Nashville Ballet to Abraham.In.Motion, the San Francisco Ballet to a children’s studio in Hawaii — sent us their reasons for taking the stage. We compiled their responses in a campaign, aptly titled #WhyIDance.whyidance

The campaign is simple. Inspired by dance programs around the world like South Africa’s Dansazania project and Brazil’s House of Dreams, we asked dancers to complete the sentence “I dance because …” Each participant wrote his or her response on a piece of paper and posed for a camera holding each proud statement: “I dance because it brings me joy, strength, and life!” said Misty Copeland; “I love sharing a piece of my soul with the world through movement,” said Kayla Rowser; “I dance because I like to challenge my body to the limit,” said Diego Cruz

“I dance because I get to be something different everyday.” — Alexandra Basmagy, American Ballet Theatre

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