How Ballroom Dancing Taught Me to Study the Bible
About 20 years ago as of the time of this writing, I signed up for a ballroom class at Arizona State University because I needed an extra few credits. I also figured I would meet some cute girls and boost my GPA — so between that or a philosophy class, I chose dance. At that time I was an English and Music Theory double major and I thought I was going to be a school teacher. Boy, was I wrong.
The bible reminds us in many places that many are the plans of man, but it is the will of the Lord that stands (Proverbs 19:21, James 4:13-15). A few months later I was finishing my ballroom 101 class and had to go out to a local salsa club for our “final exam” — which consisted of getting a card stamped that I went dancing. Easy enough, but unbeknownst to me that night was not a final exam — but rather the beginning of a life’s journey with many twists and turns. See what we did there?
Anyway, after finally getting the courage to ask a girl to dance with me, that journey began. Within a few minutes she peeled my hands off of her like I was some cheap packaging tape and shook her head in disgust, walking off the floor because of my incapability to lead and keep time. At about 19, young and full of pride — this little event was the catalyst for channeling all of my type A, Eastern European perfectionism into what would eventually develop to be a unique and fulfilling career.
It would also be the way God would use something incredibly foolish, like the superficial world of competitive ballroom dancing and my desire for recognition, to teach me how to read and study the bible with discernment.
Although I’ve done many artistic things in my life, I don’t think I’m particularly talented at one thing or another. I have had a very special and unique education, and I am also good at seeing patterns. I am also insatiably curious, and I have asked “why” about everything since I could talk. So then what matters more in life is that we connect to these child-like qualities, more so than talent or intelligence or anything else.
With all that out of the way, my journey began very quickly. The following semester I would take 3 dance courses, attend my first competition and join the ASU Latin performance team. Later that year I would travel across the country to national competitions with the team, and a year after that I started dumping money into private instruction. A year or two after that I created a collegiate ballroom club and was organizing yearly events. As president of the “Devil DanceSport Club” I also began teaching the workshops at the gym, and motivating people to get better and train hard. I would bring in high level local coaches and I would have regular meetings with my board, many of the policies, practices and vision of which still govern the club today.
After graduating college I interned at a local studio, and then tried to run my own business with some of the kids from ASU as my teachers. The idea was cool, but it failed miserably and eventually I ended up working for a franchise-style family owned place. I worked there for 7 years, grossing probably around $500,000 in sales and teaching over 10,000 lessons to students of all ages from 8 all the way to 80.
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