The power of community

According to a study Harvard Study, embracing community help us live longer and happier, (you can see the full article here)

That comes with no surprise, but now scientifically proven – in times of overconsumption, unachievable beauty standards and burnout – the solution isn’t on the material or status, as we are pushed to believe, the solution is on the connections we make with other people; maintaining good relations can actually make us live longer and healthier, facts that can impact even more than genetics 

And how do you do that when you move to a different country alone for example? How do you connect with the locals, or how do you make friends? 

As an adult this can already be a challenging question, but on my personal journey I had absolutely no idea how hard that was when I became an immigrant. 

I remember being a kid coming back from school and telling my mom i made 20 friends that day, first day of school – i would feel so proud and fueled with joy by telling her that – and in the back of my mind i remember being so easy to do that; as you grown it just becomes harder and harder, we want to be accepted, but we often don’t accept ourselves, and those struggles mixed with more and more and we have the perfect recipe of loneliness, but that’s just my point of view 

Seeing myself in a new country, without speaking properly the language, seeing a culture that was completely different, habits, atmosphere, everything, it would feel exactly like my first day of school – and endless world of possibilities – but crushed by the reality of it’s-not-that-easy to actually connect with people here

I’ve felt like an outsider, which I was and am, but outside of what? Because the world is just one and we’re all humans right? But I was outside of home, I had to build a new home, and that was one of the hardest things; you want to be accepted, but by who? How? 

And just how i started by dancing journey in brazil at 15, coming out of a deep depression, with a friend inviting and insisting for weeks for me to join a dance class with her, while i honestly felt like i didn’t had the strength to get up, and actually joining that dance class changed my entire life – the story repeated itself, when i saw myself in a new country, and one friend suggested me to join a dance class 

and when I finally went, I never looked back, again. 

The thought of “how do I make friends here, how do I connect with people here?” suddenly disappeared because when right there, dancing with other people on a 1h class, with me teaching or not, all i needed to do was to look to the side

Suddenly you might be surrounded by a community of people that just like you, didn’t feel that they “belong” at some part of their life. Suddenly you’re all belonging to the team of “i don’t belong” and by that, you are in fact, belonging. You are in fact, part of something, part of a movement, of a community. 

When I created the Baile Project, I had/have the same motto. The same motivation. We might add “Art changes people” “Art changes the world” but what in fact changes the world is people, and who changes people? People. 

Art is the tool

A fantastic tool, a universal language; a reminder of who we are, our childhood instincts - in which we often learn how to dance even before we learn how to walk 

And I crafted every strategy of Baile to reflect on that, every program, every event or class, to be about that – that people would enter in the room, in the event, whatever, and feel better about themselves when they leave, a place that they felt safe to be themselves no matter looks or where they came from. And as we grow into a team, now a movement of “we”, our flag is the same at its core. 

That’s why, when I talk about baile, i’m not talking about a dance studio, i’m not talking about a space, i’m talking about a movement, a community movement 

In which I see the impacts of it every time I come to teach another class, and see the transformation of people. 

People that entered feeling shy, feeling so self-judgemental, maybe going through struggles that I cannot even imagine they do – i know they do, because I do too. And people leaving that same class every week feeling transformed, with time, being more bold, more assertive, more confident in their own skin, more open to connect with other people, more emphatic

Feeling accepted and like they don’t need to be accepted by all. 

Feeling like they belong, because they do, they always did

.A transformation on the individual that builds bridges into a community transformation

and now I do know that too. 

– and guess what? I do come home often shouting again – there was 20 people at class today, they are all so nice and friendly, and welcoming. And those 20 people that keep coming suddenly are now friends;

and I call my mom in Brazil to tell her about the new 20 friends I made at this new country and i feel l so proud and fueled with joy by telling her that. 

Hugs,

Your Brazilian Amiga,

Anna Marques

@annartmarques

[foto Is by Luis Filipe]