Bowyer 1

Skylar Bowyer
Mrs. Holly Hunnewell
Advanced English I
Block C
February 8, 2016
Word count: 795
Twirling away from Fear
I twirl, drop, leap and fly through the air as i feel the breeze run through my tightly
pulled back hair. I sense all the eyes in the crowd following me, watching my every move,
judging me. This is the feeling I had as I performed my first solo at a competition with my dance
company. I was frightened and nervous, but exhilarated and excited at the same time. However it
was not an easy road to get up on that stage, similar to the journey Odysseus had as he made his
way to Ithaca. Just as Odysseus had to evade obstacles and still make his treacherous journey
home, I too, had to stay focused on my goal, no matter how difficult it was, and perform a solo in
my dance competition.
Three years ago I decided I wanted to start dancing. It was a passion I have always had,
ever since I was three years old and dancing around my living room in diapers. My mother
enrolled me in dance classes. I enjoyed going to classes and would count down the days until I
could go back to that big, dazzling dance floor surrounded by mirrors and wooden bars. After a
year I started taking dance more seriously and tried out for a competition team. I worked hard,
went to classes four times a week, practiced at home, day after day, getting better and better.
Eventually, I made the dance company at the studio. I was ecstatic.
I began practicing with my new competition team immediately. After I was comfortable
with my team and with the intricate dances we were learning, my dance instructor asked if I
wanted to perform a solo for the competition, I was reluctant at first, but decided to face my fear
and perform a solo, similarly to how Odysseus faced the terrifying sea monsters as he sailed

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through the ocean. "Friends, we're hardly strangers at meeting danger -- and this danger is no
worse than what we faced when Cyclops penned us up in his vaulted cave with crushing force"
(Homer 12. 226-229). When I decided to perform my solo, I had concluded that I have been
through much harder things in my life, and by participating in a solo I could face my fear and it
could help me achieve other things in the near future.
My dance teacher immediately started to choreograph and teach me the solo. I continued
to work hard and memorize my dance, but as the competition date grew closer, I became a bit
uneasy about my decision to perform a solo. After several weeks of training and memorizing, I
was tempted to give up, just as Odysseus and his crew were tempted to escape reality and live on
island of the Lotus-eaters, forgetting about their journey home. "Any crewman who ate the
Lotus, the honey-sweet fruit, lost all desire to send a message back, much less return, their only
wish to linger there with the Lotus-eaters, grazing on lotus, all memory of the journey home
dissolved forever" (Homer 9. 106-110).
Finally, the day came. I woke up early, with little butterflies fluttering inside of my
stomach. I went into the bathroom and did my competition makeup and then, with my whole
family by my side, made my way to the dance competition. I got their two hours early to warm
up, but those two hours seemed like a century. Eventually, it was my turn to dance. The man
behind the microphone screamed my name show time. I stepped on stage and took my starting
position. The spotlight gleamed on me, turning the audience in front of me into a night black
sheet. The music began and I started dancing. Jump after jump, twirl after twirl. I froze for a split
second that seemed like forever, I had forgotten my dance, surely the gods have spun this out as
fate, the gods themselves (Homer 11. 158-159). I was bound to fail, but then I continued to

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dance, the music began flowing through my limbs, I no longer had control. I finished took a bow,
and walked off the stage. After all of my hard work, I had finally accomplished my goal.
My journey of learning and performing my solo and the emotional journey of
overcoming my fear showed me that nothing is impossible as long as I set my mind to it.
Similarly to how Odysseus had to learn to not give up, and push his limits to the extreme trying
to get back to Ithaca. Although I may be done performing my solo on stage, I am not finished
pushing my limits, I am not through setting high goals and achieving them, and I am not done
overcoming my fears, whatever they may be.

Works Cited Page:

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Viking, 1996. Print