Dancing, Studios, Clubs, and Friends!
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I dance. Specifically, I do a style of performing arts called Flow where we essentially swing lights on tethers (and other such props) in the dark to create elegant patterns and choreography.
So like other dance crews (hip hop, modern, step, tap, etc.), we rent studio space to practice and polish our set in the weeks leading up to performances. And luckily, there’s a space called Gibney’s a couple blocks down Chamber’s from Stuy that we get to frequent (prices range from $60-$120 for 2 hours at a time depending on the studio, we collect studio fees from our members to cover these costs along with those from purchasing props like our one-time-use glowsticks).
Naturally, because of the high price tag of these studios, we rent studio time rather sparingly and would like to be as productive as we can while we’re there (at least moreso than at regular afterschool practices in the school). The mirrors help a lot with improving one’s dance because being able to see oneself enables one to make adjustments and receive real-time feedback as opposed to having to record videos and watch them over.
But for some, even though studios are a net positive for our set outcomes, studio time is more a time for social gathering with less of a sense of urgency for performance. Members come in late, Starbuck’s or bubble tea in hand, and sit in groups to eat snacks and sometimes even full-on meals. Most of the time, this is excused as we aren’t really an intensive club and want to cultivate a welcoming, friendly, and social environment for high schoolers to “get away” from academics.