Our latest blog post comes from new company member Chandler Pace. You can see Chandler perform in our upcoming concert “The Last Go-Round” October 8th and 9th at The Dairy Center for the Arts.

I sometimes have to pinch myself to bring me back to the reality that I am living out my lifelong dream. As a new member of Hannah Kahn Dance Company, I feel very blessed to be where I am today, and I know all the obstacles that I faced on the journey were well worth it to get here. Although my life has been one big whirlwind of new experiences in the past few months, it always feels like home when I go to dance. I have come to know Hannah as a remarkable woman and am still in awe of the company members around me in rehearsal.  For years what was just merely a dream for myself has now come to be a reality in front of my eyes. As with all gifts in life, I want to make each moment here count as my best.

When I arrive at dance in the mornings, I look forward to beginning the day with floor barre. This not only clears my head and prepares me for the next few hours of hard work ahead, but also, my body becomes stronger and I feel every aspect of me connecting with one another. After getting a good sweat from floor barre (yes, by lying on the floor), we continue with center exercises and then go to the barre. The barre is where I focus on fine-tuning my technique so that every minute detail in the broader picture is clean and concise. We then proceed to learning phrases in class from different works and then it is on to rehearsal.

I have a special love for the rehearsing process, because even though it is the work behind the performing, there is almost as much beauty in the rehearsal process as the final production. Bonding with the other dancers, discovering the way the movement works with your body, and finding those feel-good moments in the dances are all priceless elements of the rehearsal experience. As we are inching closer to our upcoming performance, the energy is more vibrant than ever and I embrace this time and what is to come onstage. Up to this point, I have learned that we evolve from one day to the next and seasons of change are always amongst us. But one thing I know for sure is that when I dance, I am home.