What Happens When You Date a Dancer

Before dating a dancer it’s CRUCIAL to understand one thing in particular. The love that they have for dance is separate from the feelings that they have for you. One does not love one more than the other because they are two separate entities of the world. Dance demands an extremely huge amount of time and just because they have rehearsal or a performance on a day that you want to hang out with them, it does NOT mean that they do not want to be with you or that they don’t care. If you’re looking for someone who can spend all day and night with you, think twice because they are one of the busiest types of people. They have a commitment to you and a commitment to dance and that’s how it is. Their dance life serves as another kind of person in the relationship in that you need to let them have their time in their dance life and reassure them that you will not get worked up about it consuming so much of their time.

Having a dance life is like another job. You go to rehearsals and then you come home and you have to do work outside of work meaning that you need to practice, choreograph, or just stay home and rest because you’re just exhausted from a long day. If they’re tired from a long day of rehearsing, don’t expect them to be all chipper and want to go out and take on the world. Their body is their art and they need relaxation and time to shut their body off and recover sometimes. You wouldn’t want to tell them to quit their job; they have a commitment and they’re dedicated to something outside of their love life and that is perfectly normal.

There will be times when something dance related comes up and they have to rearrange your plans. Know that when this happens, IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU. When you’re in a dance community and a group of people rely on you to be somewhere, you HAVE to be there. Think of a dance team as a recipe. They’re trying to make the best choreography and a presentation that they can with all the members in it and the members represent one kind of ingredient or utensil. You can’t make whatever you’re trying to make if something is missing and if something is missing, it just ruins the whole thing and it’s harder to work with just because that one ingredient/utensil isn’t there. They are going to rehearsal because it is for the betterment of THE TEAM, not because they have the intention of blowing you off. In other words, rehearsals and performances are important, so don’t give them the, “It’s like you love dance more than you love me,” talk because they hatehearing that stuff because like what was said before, love for dance is separate from love for a person.

In order to have a successful relationship with a dancer, you need to understand that what they do to carry on their passion has nothing to do with loving you less. It means the world to dancers when they know that their loved one understands how demanding dance is and that they will support them all the way. That’s what they need most from you: support. Being their number one fan and being an advocate of what they do.

Support. Trust. Understand.