Seasons of Love from Rent

20 Self-Love Songs (for dancers) – #movetolove2019

February is supposed to be about love, but the most important kind of love for girls ages 8 – 17 is not romantic. We believe girls need more self-love. And we believe a key ingredient of self-love (& happiness) is doing what you love. The world needs strong & inspired girls doing more of what they love!

So today kicks off our #movetolove2019 series, where we’ll spotlight Friday Night Show performances from our dance camps. We’ve chosen 20 self-love songs with lyrics that echo our dance camp mission: to empower girls to move to love.

What exactly do we mean by “move to love”?

MOVE – to pass from one place or position to another.

LOVE – to access the part of our mind that is connected to Spirit; the source of peace, joy, happiness and a whole bunch of other “positive” emotions.

So move to love means to move to a new place (or state of mind) – the state of mind connected to your Spirit (peace, joy, happiness…all that positive stuff). Please share your inspirational dance videos on Instagram this month! #movetolove2019 @danceadtc

Song #1: “Seasons of Love” From Rent

How do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?

Broadway Dance Routine: “Seasons of Love” From “RENT”

The Self-Love Lesson from “Seasons of Love”

Our lives are ruled by cycles (“seasons”), large and small. Spring tends to bring new beginnings – we put ourselves out there, weed our garden, and plant seeds. Then we look for signs of growth and possibility. Summer heats things up and we feel ALIVE. Fall brings new adventures, and sometimes a fork in the road. We might reap the harvest of all our effort, or we may need to let go and allow our leaves to blow in the wind.

Winter is a time of stillness and contemplation – we reflect, reconnect with ourselves and get grounded so our soil is ready for spring. These metaphors may feel cheesy, but problems arise when we go against our life’s rhythms and do something that is out of energetic alignment.

The season we seem to want to avoid most often is winter. We go through a breakup and immediately try to distract ourselves from being alone. We look for love in all the wrong places. We think we’ll find it in being skinnier, Instagram, buying pretty things & a new boyfriend. The harder we look, the more elusive love becomes and the emptier we feel.

But winter is supposed to be a time of introversion. Winter requires patience and quiet. We need to go inside for warmth, light and comfort. And winter helps us understand & love ourselves so we’re actually capable of understanding and loving others.

A year in a life is measured in five hundred twenty-five thousand five hundred & ninety-nine more minutes than an Instagram video. And we may be alone for most of those minutes. So, the real kind of love we’re seeking is always self-love. This is very good news because it means we don’t have to wait for someone to give it to us! And love is a life-long practice…we’re the ones who need to make a commitment – to be there for ourselves in both “laughter & strife.”

More About Our Dance Camp Mission

American Dance Training Camps is a company inspired by and created for strong girls. Doing what we love enables us to embody, model & teach our sixteen character values, or “movement manifesto.”

The ADTC Movement Manifesto is one way we promote our values within our dance camp community. It is an ever-evolving collection of bold thoughts that allow for some real conversations to take place at camp and throughout the year.

Learn more about ADTC’s mission & manifesto here!