My First Dance: Rebecca Bolden

1. What was your first experience with dance?

My first experience of dance was at Miss Fagan’s School of Dance in Orillia. I think I was 5. There were a few of us girls who went from my kindergarten class.  There is a fantastic photo of us all in the year-end recital, which was performed in a hall.  We were all wearing different colored tutus and had flower arches held up over our heads.  The lovely thing about that photo is that I still know quite a few of the girls. 

2. Is there an early dance experience that stands out in your memory? 

I danced a lot in my backyard.  In the summers I would make up dances and perform them for my parents or friends.  A friend or two would sometimes be involved with these dances too.  I loved dancing in the backyard and feeling the grass in between my toes. 

3. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger dancing self?

Well, that would depend which younger dancing self  I was speaking to.  The young high school dancing self would get something along the lines of “Dump that boyfriend and take all the classes with all the teachers you possibly can.”  Actually, the young university dancer would also get that advice.  Haha! 

4. How have you evolved as a dancer since that first experience with dance?

Wow.  I have come a long way.  I went from the dream of becoming a “ballerina” to the dream of being in a professional modern dance company……Hey!  I did that!  Well anyway, there was a lot in between like travel, life, marriage, kids, and of course yoga.  Yoga has been huge in finding the dancer I am.  Yoga is about finding your true self;  I guess it helped me find my true dance self. 

5. Off the top of your head, what are five words that describe dance to you?

Love. Move. Flow. Fall.  Grow.

Thank you for sharing, Rebecca!