Dance is Community
By: Lily Liang
Tags: Community, Startup, Dancer, Dance, Social Network

Re-Discovering Dance

It was hard to leave San Francisco earlier this year. My 12 years in the Bay Area consisted of career-defining roles from joining the first Product team at a fast-growing start-up (Tiny Prints), taking an already established brand to the next level (Rotten Tomatoes) and co-founding my very first start-up (Bopsidy). My entire 30’s were spent there and it was where I met my now husband. But, more than anything, I double-downed on a lifelong passion of mine: dance.

My favorite Saturdays had me bouncing between classes, often starting with Tania Santiago’s Afro-Brazilian dance class at ODC in the Mission district, then hopping over to Dance Mission Theater where I’d be like a kid in a candy store picking from classes like West African with Alhassane Camara, Haitian with Portsha Jefferson, Hip Hop with Allan Frias and (back in the day) Afro-House with Rashad Pridgen. I spent many Memorial Day weekends in town rehearsing, bedazzling costumes and parading down the streets of the Mission district — rain, cold or shine — for the annual Carnaval SF parade. My favorite trips were dance intensives in Brazil, Cuba and Spain where I got to meet fellow dance enthusiasts, experience a taste of the culture through the lens of local artists, and learn from some of the best instructors of Afro-Brazilian dance, Cuban dance and Flamenco, respectively. Over the years, I had the honor of performing on various stages around the Bay Area with Aguas Dance Company and Duniya Dance & Drum Company.

Studying with Danza del Caribe in Santiago, Cuba (2015)

Before long, the people I’d see regularly in classes and socials became something more. While I wouldn’t know everyone’s names, their familiar faces and gracious energies created a space where I felt safe to be my authentic self — the part of me that wasn’t defined by a name, age or job. Together, we’d let it all out on the dance floor, cheering each other on as we embraced our teacher’s instruction, learned new choreography and danced in groups. They were my respite from a long day of work. A release from what may have been taking up too much space in my mind at the time. And then for many, they became the people I’d celebrate birthdays with, travel with, watch election results with and protest down the streets with.

More often than not, I wouldn’t find out what my dance friends did for a living until after we became friends — a welcome change to the “what do you do” that MBAs and tech folks often ask upon a first meeting. As a result, my community became richer in more ways than one and it gave me a deeper appreciation for the Bay Area and the arts.

Duniya Dance & Drum Company (photo by Vijay Rakhra, 2018)

Looking back, I don’t know how well I would have fared during the pandemic without this community. I relied on them to not only keep dancing (via Zoom) but to hold virtual spaces where we could share, listen, discuss, support and, most importantly, hold each other accountable in a world that needed the arts as a force for social change (special thanks to Joti Singh and the Duniya dance crew). I’ll forever be grateful for this support system that has made me a better person.