How Dance can Act as a Catalyst to Cultivate Creative, Mindful, Resilient

WRITTEN BY AKI LAM

ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLOTTE CHANG

Students 

When I stepped foot on campus in the summer to reside at Eleanor Roosevelt College for five weeks, I was highly ambitious to get ahead with both my dance and STEM courses as an incoming first year transfer student. As I prepared for my later, longer term move I would have in Fall Quarter by becoming acquainted with the so-easy-to-get-lost-at-first campus, my plan was to double major in Dance and Environmental Chemistry and to get a head start. As a bit of an overachiever, I ended up taking ballet, Latin dance, and Math 20C in one Summer Session, which brought me closer connections to classmates and tutors in STEM and friends in the performing arts along the way. I recall having to sprint across the Gilman Avenue crosswalk after my 20C lecture with ten minutes to spare between my math and ballet class, fighting for my versatile education. I eventually found a more sustainable balance between my science and dance classes in following quarters, but movement as an art form has been essential for me to survive and thrive in my undergraduate environmental science and chemistry studies. 

I am now halfway through my first year majoring in Environmental Chemistry and minoring in Dance, and can testify that taking a hybrid of dance and science courses was the best decision. If you are a seasoned dancer, have never danced a step in your life, are looking to hop back into movement classes, or are just here to read my article, you are in the right place to gain profound insight on the Department of Theatre and Dance at UC San Diego. The department offers a multitude of dance genres to learn, such as West-African, Ballet, Latin, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, and more, and other educational courses such as in Dance Making, pedagogy for teaching, and dance history for those interested in expanding their skillsets. By partaking in new, unfamiliar movement practices and showing up to class every week, dancing can establish deeper relations through choreographic collaboration, serve as a space to grow confidence, and nurture greater physical and mental wellbeing through exercise. Want to take it further? There are quarterly performance labs leading up to dance shows at the end of the quarter, such as Winterworks and New Directions where students either learn a piece taught by faculty or pitch their choreographic ideas to contribute their original work in the production. There is always something new to explore, to continue growing into a stronger, resilient performer which develops work ethic and perseverance in general college life. 

To provide some personal context, I trained mainly in hip hop and jazz for about seven years along with ballet, contemporary, and some Latin, and competed as a Jazz dance soloist during high school while eventually co-leading a rising high school dance team. I completed half of my undergrad in community college while working as a seasonal dance performer and mascot character for California’s Great America. I came to UC San Diego wanting to focus on my performance studies, but was conflicted with my secondary passion to advocate for environmental sustainability and study chemistry, hence the major in Environmental Chemistry. Even while immersing in a field of study that never fails to make me more curious, being a STEM major comes with an overwhelming workload as many can agree, and is often a never-ending battle to find balance between sleep, exercise, hobbies, social life, and free time. However, many students like me have found it immensely helpful to balance out desk work with dance classes. 

Dance will always be there as an outlet to cultivate authentic, bold self-expression, and for letting go of daily life stress as long as there are supportive peers to cheer you on. If you can find reasons to keep going despite a tight schedule, days of feeling sore after rehearsals, or feeling stuck by seemingly impossible moves to master, then movement classes may be a great addition to create a fulfilling, growthful college experience. One can immerse themselves in a variety of cultural practices, exchange energy and passion with an uplifting community, actively collaborate with other creatives and choreographers, and continuously work towards mastering new possibilities in movement. For instance, in the Fall Quarter of 2025, I took Intermediate Contemporary with Professor Sadie Weinberg. I not only improved at my modern and contemporary dance technique, but left the class with ways to become more appreciative of the chaotic yet short college experience. In between movement practices, she would share a personal life story or life lesson to take away, something as simple as showing gratitude to the beautiful walkways and gardens UCSD has as commute routes between classes. My professor told us how there are infinite possibilities to create art through movement. Continuous appreciation and awareness of this curiosity about different ways to move the body would establish longevity in dancing–as personal enjoyment, an outlet to build self-confidence, as fitness, a professional career, or all of the above. Taking contemporary in the morning allowed me to reset my mind before heading to my linear algebra tutoring sessions. Consistent stretching and breathing exercises combined with light cardio helped me retain more material (and fall asleep less) during my late afternoon lectures. The Wagner Dance Building has often become my environment to slow down, check in on the wellbeing of others, and dance my heart out even after a rough midterm. 

Choreography retention and muscle memory is a great exercise to sharpen the brain, while simultaneously releasing endorphins from high intensity cardio involved in rehearsal. Piecing together a combination and filling in the gaps of space and intention for a dance piece oftentimes feels similar to solving a math problem, where the final result comes to feel rewarding with room to keep amplifying the performance quality. 

In addition, dance should not be strictly defined as a career path meant for those who started barely after they were born, or even as “just a hobby” when taking class for the first time in college. Dancing at UCSD can become a lifestyle and open unexpected, new doors. The classes often require outings outside of classes for greater learning, such as by joining a dance social, watching a live theater performance, or taking another class at an off-campus studio. I attended a Latin dance class series and social dancing event for the first time at Dance Headquarters last summer, and this brought me a new appreciation towards styles such as Bachata, Salsa, and Meringue dancing while getting outside my comfort zone of taking campus classes. Student choreographers and the department in general have new opportunities every quarter, whether it be filming projects, auditions, or choreography assignments. During my Fall Quarter performance lab class where I performed for Forward Movement Only(!) directed and taught by Kara Mack, volunteer choreographers taught their pieces to a group of dancers in the class to add to the final production held in Wagner Dance Studio 3. These smaller but significant responsibilities are where student choreographers and performers develop leadership, accountability, and a better understanding of what goes into a visually pleasing, intentional dance project.  

Expanding my dance experiences at UCSD has helped me maintain a sense of personal growth and has gifted me with the warmest, kindest community of dancers I can share the same passion with. I will pass my writer’s mic to my talented and kind friend Mark (Marky) Betancourt, a senior Dance and Microbiology double major. Betancourt emphasizes how dance is a powerful way to connect with others: 

“I think the dance community is great, [with] so much support and encouragement to just have fun and express yourself. I believe this dance program creates a sense of community through movement and how movement has a certain vernacular. Meaning when [dancing] a certain style or move that [others can] understand, a sense of connection and love is created from simply having fun and expressing yourself to your friends and others. One really good example and [that] can be used as an interesting concept is the power of ciphers/ciphering. Being able to freestyle in a dance circle surrounded by support is such a good social skill to have. That I feel not only prepares you as a dancer to freestyle in any setting but also creates a sense of freedom that we don’t typically get, especially when your friends around you are cheering you on and talking about how amazing you are [to be] able to use up space and put yourself out there fearlessly.” 

Next up is Run Wang, a fourth year Computer Engineering student. Wang describes transformative experiences delving into movement classes while juggling extracurriculars and challenging courses in engineering: 

“As a STEM computer engineering student who always is given a lot of stressful work, I need to sit and concentrate in front of the computer screen a lot. But dancing is my escape from my ordinary life. It provides a safe place for me to just enjoy the moment and be there. While dancing, I am not worried about my current performance. I am also not constantly judging the learning quality, I am just there. I also just love to hear the music and resonate with it. It also helps me to move. So overall dance adds color into my black and white world with letters and numbers. I really love it.” 

In conclusion, the dance community at UCSD is a diverse, inclusive space for performers from all walks of life, providing students new learning opportunities, education on the arts and humanities by teaching movement in connection with its cultural origins, and spacious studios to keep on dancing through college life! You may never know where dance can take you unless you give it a try. I didn’t expect to be given the opportunity to be a seasonally working dancer after high school which I am tremendously grateful for. But the most important, oftentimes most difficult step is to show up to class after a long break, or for the first time ever. Taking a dance class may just add another memorable experience during undergraduate life, or eventually become a new important aspect of moving through life.