LIFETIME’S LOVE OF DANCE

PERSONAL PASSIONS: DANCE

The greatest passion of my life

By Sonia Huggins

Sonia Huggins is an educator who gave up her distinguished career one year ago this month as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a regular contributor to SideOne.

I have always loved to dance. I have always loved music. The two always went together for me. As a child who was born in Northern England, I wasn’t exposed to dance at all, but I loved to move. So, my mother found a ballet school close to London – or so she said. I only knew that we lived in Derby and we had to take a double-decker bus to my ballet classes and it was so exciting! Geography was not my strong suit as a five year old.

Back in my day the only form of dance training available was ballet … didn’t matter to me ... the music was beautiful and the dance movements

Dance was my passion and I knew it even if my parents didn’t – and I was really good at it, too.

were exquisite. I fell truly madly deeply in love with the ballet. I lived and breathed for those weekend classes. At the tender age of five my passion was born and it never died.

THE UNFORGETTABLE EXCITEMENT

My first ballet was a timeless classic, The Nutcracker. As the only child of colour, I was given the role of a soldier. I did very little movement but the excitement of watching the other dancers was unforgettable in my now eight-year-old mind.

I loved those early days of what would become the greatest passion of my life.

As soon as we moved to Canada in the Sixties, my mom began looking for classes again and of course it was always ballet. I knew nothing of other styles, probably because I was enamoured with ballet. During those times ballet was big – it was what “real” wannabe dancers did. I was no different. I danced with a small ballet school in Montreal and the teacher took an interest in me for the first time and decided to create a solo piece for me from the music of Johann Strauss called The Blue Danube Waltz. It was my first solo because my teacher felt I was a protégé. As I stepped onto the stage I knew this was where I belonged …

I would become … a ballet dancer!

NO FEAR OF HARD WORK

I loved the physicality of dance and I wasn’t afraid to work as hard as I needed to get there to become a professional dancer. Little did I know that my dream would change as I grew older and developed new skills.

And so began the dancer’s life of taking daily classes and eventually learning to go on pointe shoes! I was so in love …

One day, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, a worldrenowned company based in Montreal, came to my school looking for apprentices for their student program. I was chosen and I thought this was it!

FORBIDDEN CHANCE

When I told my parents they absolutely refused to let me pursue this path. I was told that this was not a serious career … dance led nowhere and becoming an artist would lead to drugs, alcohol and a life of poverty. At 13 years old, my dreams began to slowly crumble. And even though Les Grand Ballets Canadiens’ apprentice program was practically free, my mom made me choose between ballet or piano lessons because they could no longer afford both. At the time, playing piano was more lucrative and pianists were held in high regard – had I wanted to pursue a career in classical music. My parents never thought I would ever want hard enough or be good enough to be a dancer.

I felt defeated, so I chose to continue music even though I turned out to be a mediocre piano student. Dance was my passion and I knew it even if my parents didn’t – and I was really good at it, too.

A CONSTANT YEARNING

All through high school I yearned to dance but the only programs offered that interested me were gymnastics and music … dance was not an option. So I learned to play the flute and as a result I was selected for concert band. I focused on sports as well and became quite good at any sport, especially gymnastics. In my senior graduating year I received a silver medal for being one of the top athletes at my high school, but I still thought of dance constantly.

Upon graduation, I went to college and thought I needed to give up any thoughts of pursuing a dance career. My parents still weren’t supportive, so that was it! Until I met a woman who influenced my life and my career forever. Her name was Betty and she was a fast-talking New Yorker and former dancer who was teaching college dance classes at my school.

One day I passed by the dance studio and saw a class moving in a style I didn’t recognize, called jazz ballet. Betty asked me to join the class but I refused. She challenged me. I still refused but went every day just to see her teach and watch the dancers dance.

Until one day, I finally stepped into her class, where she took me under her wing and by the end of that year I taught my first dance class to the same students whom I’d seen in her class and we called it The Jazz Dance Club.

THE PASSION RETURNED

There was no end to her support – she was passionate, tough and really believed in me. My passion returned in a strong, steady and urgent way. I started taking classes outside of school but when I was in school I spent every waking moment in the dance studio with my teacher, the other dancers, or alone making up choreographies constantly. It was an incredible time to be infused with so much passion and desire.

Upon graduation, my parents were thrilled that I now had a stable career, a degree as a teacher and would finally forget about “that dance stuff.”

As my CEGEP years came to an end, university loomed into view and I tried to find a program that would satisfy my need to dance, perform, teach and just immerse myself in my one true love. In those days (late Seventies) there were no dance programs in my city at the university level, so I chose to do a Bachelor of Education with a major in physical education. At least I would be sort of close to dance – little did I know that the course of my life was about to change again, but this time my original dreams of dance would remain.

I had discovered that I could teach. All through university, I taught dance and realized I loved inspiring and motivating students. A new passion was born which seemed harmonious with my first passion. I began teaching everywhere and all the time!

FORGET THAT DANCE STUFF

Upon graduation, my parents were thrilled that I now had a stable career, a degree as a teacher and would finally forget about “that dance stuff.” Much to their chagrin, I taught dance wherever I could stick it into my schedule and just got more and more work as a dance teacher, while doing my regular job as a classroom teacher. Life was busy and I was popular.

I was teaching kindergarten by day and dance by night. Then came one of the most intense moments of my life, when I realized I could meld my passion for dance into my regular teaching job. I was offered a position teaching dance as part of a high school curriculum. What an opportunity! A regular teaching gig – teaching dance at the high school level all day, every day, with a teacher’s salary and benefits.

No more hustling or hiding my night jobs … a chance to inspire, motivate and train youngsters. And so I got to live my passion for the next 25 years.

What a creative, rewarding ride it was!