Dance is one of the most difficult things you can make your body do. Humans are not designed to do the types of tricks that are expected of you as a dancer. But at the same time, dance allows us to express things that cannot be put into words. It's the physical interpretation of what is going on in the mind of the artist.
For this Art Journeys, I sat down with Tammy Boese and Meagan Landry, the owners of Muskoka Dance Connection, where, for the past 18 years, they have opened their doors to the youth of Muskoka for one single purpose: to dance.
Landry and Boese grew up on opposite sides of Toronto, with Landry growing up in Pickering and Boese in St. Catharines, respectively. But both of their journeys included Muskoka.
“I am originally from Pickering. I lived in Muskoka in the early '90s, and then moved back here with my family in 2004.” Landry said.
“And I'm originally from St. Catharines, I cottaged here as a child, and moved up in 2000.” Added Boese.
According to the duo, dance is their entire lives. Ever since they first stepped into a dance lesson – Landry at 9 and Boese at 6 – there was no turning back.
“This is our career, right? Our career as dance teachers and business owners. We're not changing careers now, so this is it. Too late for that. Yeah, Art is our life. Basically our way of living and our means of living.” Landry and Boese joked.
Art can also shift perspectives on things. Dance does not differ from this fact, as Landry and Boese shared moments in their dance careers that changed their perspective on something.
Landry reflected on one such experience: “Doing Argos (Toronto Argonauts). I was never a cheerleader in school, and I always thought that the girls in school were mean and nasty. So I went to the Argo Audition with a friend who wanted to audition, but I was very anti-cheerleaders because I thought they were all nasty girls. But I ended up getting it, and so my dance teacher was like, You have to do it; it's such a great experience. And the girls ended up being lovely, and I'm still friends with some of them today. They were so nice; it changed my perspective.”
Boese, on the other hand, reflected on the size of the dance community. “It's a very small world dance floor. You don't realize that until you start owning a studio or dancing, and then there are so many people we meet and see again and again. And you can see the love that everyone has for the art.”
As we moved through our conversation, I was drawn to the idea of connection between people through dance. It is so interesting that every culture has traditions of dance and movement that connect them. But when cultures collide, dance seems like one of the only spaces where humans find common ground.
“Dance speaks one language, basically. You're in a dance, in the expression of the body. So it doesn't matter, you know? What you are, how you are, who you are. You come together, you work together as a team. And you just express,” said Boese. This is certainly demonstrated in Muskoka through Muskoka Dance Connection’s end-of-year recital show, “Let Them Be Little”, where the community shows up for every dancer on stage.
“Parents come to a dance recital because they want to support their child, and they need to be there for their kid. But the fact that we get a large percentage of our audience that doesn't even have kids in the show is amazing. Like, just people who live locally, who love theatre and art and dance and want to support the children.” Landry said, expressing gratitude towards the Muskoka Community.
As we made it to the end of the interview, I asked the question: why does art matter? Boese and Landry, as a collective, had the same answer.
“It's who we are. Of course, it matters. I've never had my life without dance. When I was a kid, people would say, what do you want to be? Dance teacher was always my answer.” Landry spoke.
“For me, at the dance studio, you dance because you love it, then you become a competitive student and you love it because it's competitive. I became a professional dancer, and I loved it, 'cause I got paid to do what I love. And now I love being around the kids, watching them succeed and watching their progress from September until June. And then watching them shine in the recital is so exciting. Boese added.
After speaking with the ladies of Muskoka Dance Connection. I felt so much gratitude for growing up a dancer. You truly do feel as if you are a part of a whole different world, where you can escape and express your feelings in a way that benefits both your mind and body. I asked Boese and Landry if there was anything that they would like to leave the reader with, and Boese’s answer was sweet and simple, yet many parents sometimes need the reminder.
“Register your kid for dance. No, actually, let your children find an activity that they love. What inspires them. Whether they're passionate about it or not, they'll find something that keeps them focused and busy. They’ll be successful in life.”
This is something that at every age we all need to be reminded of: not doing something just because, but doing something that we actually love and that makes us happy.