Alexis Tobin - Essay

​Hi I am Alexis Tobin from Indiana and I am featured in issue 63 of inspiring teens magazine. I would like to talk about dance because it has helped me come a long way with my confidence and self-esteem. I have become close friends with some of the girls and dance is like a second family to me. I feel that other teens should have the opportunity to have something special like this in their life.

When I am at the studio nothing else matters besides dancing. Dancing is one of the best things I have ever done.  It's stress free and I get to be with my friends. Dancing at the studio and on stage are two different things.  In the studio you are not nervous about performing in front of a crowd full of people.  When you have to perform on stage, you're going to be nervous because there's a lot of people staring at you but, you want to make sure you don't mess up.  If you do, it’s ok.  You just have to work on it after you perform. When you're at a competition you can’t be messing around.  You have to be serious but still have fun at the same time. 

One of the best things to do at competitions is to sit in the audience with your best friend that's also on the same team as you.  When you know a song, you sit there and sing it together and it’s a memory you won’t forget. That's also another thing about dance is you get to make the best memories that you get to keep forever. Dancing has made me a better person overall. When you're a dancer you have to have a lot of strength to help you with what you're doing. When you're doing your turns, you have to have core strength to help you get around and stay in the turns as long as you can. The goal is to do as many turns as you can without falling. If you fall, then you have to get right back up and do it again and again until you get it. Then you have to continue to practice until you have it down really well. I think turns are most definitely the hardest thing to learn because you have to be patient to learn the proper technique.

The most important thing for any skill is strength. I feel like dancing can help you mentally and physically. Dancing is one of those things where you have to love what you're doing to move forward. If you don't love dancing, you're not going to get anywhere with it. If you don't have passion for it and if you're going to become a dancer, you need to be serious about it.  You can't just walk in and say let’s get this over with you have to love doing it. If you don't love dancing, then try a different sport. If dance isn't for you then that's ok but it definitely holds a lot of fun times and memories.

​Alexis Tobin – Indiana
Nomination & Photography by Moments in Time by Kimberly Kreuger

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