In March of this year, Tom Harada walked by the Arthur Murray Studio in Redwood City. Looking through the window made him think, "This may be a great way to meet people and exercise." He viewed dancing as something constant that you can carry with you for life. Not long after, he looked us up online and contacted us for his first lesson. Right away he knew he was going to take a chance and see where this road would lead him!
Since then, we’ve seen Tom perform at our Extravaganza solo event, graduate from a Newcomer and Bronze 1, and dance 61 times at Freestyle Showcase. According to Tom, he can’t seem to pick a favorite event because he sees the benefit of all the events he's participated in and can’t see his experience here being the same without them. A couple of months ago, a newer male student of ours mentioned how he looks up to Tom’s dancing and hopes to reach Tom's level soon. When we told Tom he was so surprised to hear that anyone saw him that way. Knowing that someone looked up to him in his dancing really made him recognize his progress and remember that he too looked at our current students the same way when he started.
Talking to Tom, he mentioned that he has seen a difference in his work and personal life since pursuing dance. He brought up the subject of dating and how, prior to dancing, he found the conversation he offered to be artificial and lacking in substance. Now, with dancing in his life, he has a passion to share; he sees an immediate response of interest, and conversing has now become more fluid. Even on dates, he finds himself more grounded.
Working as a programmer, Tom's work life can be stressful, but he told me that coming to the studio to dance allows him to take a mental break from his work. Plus he says dancing has made him more effective and focused when he is at work. Tom’s last performance review at work (prior to taking dance lessons) he was told they would like to see a little more confidence and interaction from him. Now he's really looking forward to what the next review will hold because he feels dancing has given him both of those things and has felt it spill over into his work day.
Tom travels a lot, and on a recent trip he was able to stop by our Las Vegas Dance Competition, or Dance-O-Rama®, where he saw students and teachers from around the world compete. “It was inspiring to see the possibilities”, he said. Seeing such a progression of levels reminded him of where he started and where he can go with his dancing. Now he can even picture himself participating in a Dance-O-Rama in the very near future.
When I asked Tom what he felt has changed in him since he started dancing, he found it difficult to put into words. But as he threw out several thoughts on the matter, a few words kept being repeated: "Balanced, confident and composed." Like so many people Tom spends most of his time working and in the beginning didn’t feel he had the time for dance lessons. Now he's discovered that dance has given him a feeling of balance in his life that he hadn’t even noticed was missing before. He merely expected to learn the moves he’s seen on So You Think You Can Dance and get a good sweat going, but the side effects of dancing have brought out a confidence in him to try new things and speak up more at work. He now sees himself leading in life instead of following. And when his day doesn’t go as well as he hoped, he comes in to the studio and knows he can forget about his day and just have fun.
Tom has reminded all of us at Arthur Murray that dancing is never just about the moves you learn but about the side effects that pay in dividends over years to come.