Be Open (More About Me) — Alexandria Radford
Just an oddball girl who loves to dance.
Hello! My name is Alexandria, but you can call me Alex for short. Everyone does. It used to annoy me, but I got used to it. Back when I was a gymnast, my coaches and teammates used to call me Alex and it stuck. I’ve been called some pretty awful names over the years, so I’ll respond to just about anything.
Something people might not know about me is my love for dance. Put on any music with a beat and I’ll probably be grooving along. I’m one of those people who enjoys performing. You wouldn’t know it by my introverted personality. It must come from my gymnastics background of wanting to perform what I practiced so hard for.
I would consider dance to be one of my hobbies that I haven’t done in a long time. I was introduced to dance while doing gymnastics. Can’t say that ballet or modern dance was my favorite being a “bigger girl”. Gymnasts are usually known for being small and light. I wasn’t that. All the muscle I gained went straight to my thighs which made me a power gymnast. Something I wouldn’t change. I loved to flip and tumble.
During summertime was when they would have us do some dance classes in between our normal workouts. They taught basic ballet, which to this day, I still remember it. My body was never flexible enough to embrace ballet and enjoy it, but you do what you are told.
Flashforward to 2010, I was 22 and wanted to take some dance classes. It had been a long time since I’ve done any type of dance and more dance styles were being offered now. Only the basic dance styles were being offered in Utah while I was growing up. When I found out about hip hop and break-dancing classes, I jumped on it.
I took to hip hop and breaking dancing pretty fast. With break dancing, I was able to incorporate my gymnastics. Something I didn’t realize until starting break dancing classes. It was so fun being able to tap into my gymnastics background. I did miss doing something as simple as a handstand or cartwheels.
Hip hop I was able to tap into the basic dance skill I learned during those summer months growing up. They taught how us how to listen to the music and how-to pick-up counts. Dance is choreographed in sets of eight. Now I can dance and count to eight to save my life, but I can pick it up while listening to the music. So don’t ask me to count out the steps while dancing.
What I probably enjoyed the most about hip hop was the different styles of music that can be used and how many different styles within the hip hop style there was. I don’t know quite how to describe it. I have nothing against ballet or modern, but it can get boring. But that’s just me. Both those styles are beautiful.
There’s my dance background in a nutshell. When I started this article out, this wasn’t what I had in mind, but why not. Dance was a part of my life off and on for several years. People don’t associate me with anything dance, so it’s nice to share it.
Stay tuned for more about yours truly.
I have more stories about my current hobby. Check them out here:
Finding an Old Farmstead By Alexandria Radford | Loud Updates (medium.com)
Getting Top Writer by Alexandria Radford | Medium
The Little Town of Delle By Alexandria Radford | Loud Updates (medium.com)
A Cool Bridge with Clouds By Alexandria Radford | Medium
