The day will come when a dancer finds themself in an identity crisis. It can occur long before quitting or retiring from dance. Sometimes it reveals itself when the number of hours spent in the classroom is limited or significantly reduced. Our dance life has been defined by and accustomed to training 6-8 hours a day for 5-6 days a week. When we aren’t meeting that standard, we begin to feel unworthy. We ask ourselves, are we still a dancer. We start to feel like our identity as a dancer is unclear because we aren’t participating in a full-time dance program. And if we aren’t performing regularly or auditioning for our chance to be cast in powerful performances, we also feel unqualified to call ourselves dancers.

At The Sonja McCord X, we are redefining what it means to be a dancer.

We define a dancer as a person who can move their body to music, rhythm, and melodies with multiple sequences and movement combinations. If you can move, you are a dancer. An aspiring dancer trains consistently to learn multiple choreographic works and enhances their skills through consistent practice. A professional dancer is delineated as someone branded as a dancer, produces or performs consistent creative work in the medium of dance, and consistently elevates their talent and skills. Moreover, we determine our level of professionalism by our visibility factor, our peers’ recognition, and the body of work that we develop and share with the world.

By accepting these new societal norms within dance, we can shift our mindset from identity crisis to identity-defining.

We liberate ourselves from the pressures of the dance industry. And define who we are as dancers, our persona, and artistry. It permits us to create freely and abundantly. It qualifies us to build a body of work and document our legacy.

The Sonja McCord X provides the essential skills for dancers ready to move towards independent dance professionals without relying on other people to give them opportunities. We believe dancers are powerful and capable of raising the barre within the industry as dance is abundant, bountiful, and available to the people. 

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Please follow us at @thesonjamccordx and join our inner circle @dancervisibility.