How I Succeeded in Combining My Passion for Travel and Dance

Article originally appeared on Smile Magazine – October 2015 Issue

Hip-hop dance is constantly evolving — new techniques are developed almost every day around the world. As a serious hip-hop dance enthusiast, I feel compelled to learn these new moves, expand my dance vocabulary and push my body’s limits. This compulsion has led me to dance studios here in Singapore, where I am based, to as far as Melbourne, Australia.

My dance recital mates and I onstage during the DanzPeople 2015 recital

Indulging my two passions — dance and travel — adds colour to the dreary hues of a 9-to-5. My day job as a full-time writer at an internet marketing firm involves long hours of serious article churning on an office desk. While I like what I do, I frequently catch myself deciding which country I’ll be travelling to next, and scouring hip-hop dance classes within that area. Having several upcoming trips booked battles the burnout feeling a white-collar profession usually evokes.

Also read: 5 Reasons to Travel the World in Your Twenties

2015: Me at the Summer Jam Dance Camp in Singapore

Attending classes overseas also gives me the chance to make new friends. In a class I attended in Bangkok, I chatted up a fellow student while waiting for class to start. Despite the language barrier (he’s Thai), we ended up being good friends by the time the one-hour session was over. We still manage to keep in touch regularly, and even take classes together whenever he flies to Singapore. To me that experience is proof that dancing, like music, is a universal language that can connect people.

With dancer and instructor from the USA, Mariel Madrid.

Being exposed to choreographers of various nationalities is another reason I travel to dance. Their different techniques and ideas broaden my understanding of dancing as an art, and in turn, help me improve my craft.

Also read: This is How You’ll Fall in Love When You Travel

One reason I am passionate about dancing is that one can never be an expert in it. It’s a learning journey. Mine has already taken me to many places, and I’m sure it will take me to many more.

Ara’s Dance Directory

BIG SHIFT DANKA CENTRALE
3rd Level, A. Venue Mall Makati Avenue, Makati City, Philippines
Recommended instructors: Erik Javier and Nesh Janiola

O SCHOOL
*SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link #04–04, Singapore
Recommended instructors: Gin Lam, Fredy Kosman, Jasmine Lee, Xue Hui and Zaihar

EN DANCE STUDIO
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended instructor: Koharu Sugawara

GROOVE STUDIO BANGKOK
3rd floor, Asia Bldg BTS Ratchthatewi Exit 3 Bangkok, Thailand
Recommended instructor: Thana Lim

Also read: 5 Ways to Be a Better Traveller