Sophia
"For me, dance and my mental health will always be intertwined.
When I was 13, I randomly stopped being able to walk and, therefore (at least in my mind at the time), I stopped being able to dance. I spent years not dancing, and it did no end of damage to my mental health. In 2019, I went off to university to pursue a Theatre Production degree, but I couldn’t shake the thought that I didn’t want to be backstage; I wanted to be on stage. This led to a really low period for my mental health, and I eventually dropped out to pursue dance and musical theatre as a career, which made me much happier.
That being said, there are many ways in which dance doesn’t always magically improve my mental health. I can’t always do all the moves I want to on crutches, and this can cause me to feel quite down on myself. However, the feeling of performing for people and being on stage will always, ALWAYS outweigh that."