Mirror Selves

The dancer spends so much time in the mirror that the reflection becomes a point of reference for their balance and really their existence. Once onstage, without the mirror, the lights are blinding, and the audience is a visual abyss. The reference point needs to then be rediscovered from an invisible internal point. It can take a dancer many years to understand their technique without the mirror. Who am I if nothing is reflected back to me? Is the question experienced. Therein lives the difference between creating a step and mimicking a shape. You enter the studio and stage and enter a rabbit hole leading to the center of yourself.