Any young lady who grew up dancing has seen the movie "Center Stage," starring Peter Gallagher, Zoe Saldana, and many others. I have seen the movie several times myself and a special scene never ceases to tug at my good ole' heart strings.
This scene shows one of the dance students, Eva, practicing late in the evening and working on perfecting her technique. No one else is around until Juliette, one of the dance school's instructors who Eva bumps heads with from the beginning, walks by the practice studio and sees Eva rehearsing after hours. Eva has been known to be the tough girl from the inner-city who appears to have a really bad attitude, but actually has some of the best technique and passion for dance.
After watching Eva practice Juliette tells her, "No matter what happened in class... in performance, last week, five minutes ago... if you come back here, you'll be home."
The here Juliette was referring to, was the ballet barre. It has been many years since I have been in a ballet studio, but I remember it always being a place of comfort, a place of peace, and a place that I could pour out my emotions. As young dancers, we were always told to "leave your soul on the dance floor." Never hold back and have no regret.
I no longer dance, but I train my body, and the gym has been my place of solace, relief, and joy. I can walk in with the weight for the world on my shoulders, and leave knowing that I left it all on the gym floor.
Every time I return to the weight rack and pick up the iron, I am home.
In Fitness + Love,
~ Q. Olivia
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