If you don't put gas in the car, you can't go to the mall.

You wanted it, so here it is Cate :P

My dance teacher here at college is quite a character. She has a few jokes that she tells very often in class to try and illustrate points that she is trying to make. One of them is "If you don't put gas in the car, then you can't go to the mall." What she means by that is you have to eat in order to perform at the best of your ability.

No matter how many times she says it, you have to admit that she has a point. Proper nutrition is an essential to daily life. If your body is not healthy, it restricts many areas of your life. Meaning, if you do not eat enough, or if you are eating unhealthily, then you are not treating your body with the respect that it deserves. The problem that occurs more often in dancers is that they do not eat enough, and this is the problem that my teacher is most concerned with. If you are not eating as much as your body needs then it is hard for the dancer to get the maximum energy that they need. Dancing takes a lot out of the dancer. So many muscles are used that without the proper nutrition to give them strength it can be near impossible.

These days, the image of a dancer is very thin, but still very strong. If the dancer decides to not eat in order to achieve this then it is pointless. Especially since muscles can not be built on a diet of nothing.

The point is, teachers can be right sometimes, no matter how much you might not like that to be true. And really, "If you don't put gas in the car, you can't go to the mall," so eat. Keeping a healthy body is one of the best things a dancer can do to to improve in your dancing.