How Dance Speaks Through Us
Two dancers tell their personal stories through the art of dance.
Two friends, Madison Rodgers and Desiree Jones met just days before our Webster journey began on August 23, 2017 which happened to be Rodgers’ nineteenth birthday. The only African American dancers in the Webster University dance program immediately hit it off.
Seeing each other as companions instead of competitors, the two best friends have spent much of their time together over the past three and a half years. Rodgers, having started her dance career at the age of three stuck with dance, saying “dance has been my passion for 19 years now, and I don’t see myself ever calling it quits.” Rodgers loves dance because of the freedom to express herself but prefers dancing in a group environment.
Jones considers herself as starting late in the game of dance, during the sixth grade. Jones loved the discipline and learning of dance, coupled with the family like atmosphere of a collective struggle to perfect every move. She appreciates the opportunities dance has brought into her life, such as auditions, and even went on to say “I don’t know where I would be without dance, it has provided me with so much happiness and purpose.” Lastly, Jones told me that she prefers dancing alone because she is free to express her emotions in a private setting.
For the two companions, dance has allowed them to go to college and to join a family of other dancers they otherwise would never have met. Their friendship is a feel-good story in world shrouded in darkness right now.
By Luke Seddon
the stl art scene 