Sylvia Wynter's Dream

By Kelli-Rae Francis | Writing Prompt 1 | October 1, 2023

When many people hear the word “LOSS”, they think of  losing a loved one to death. The truth is, that as humans we have all experienced loss in some form. Either we have lost a loved one, our sense of self, memories, our self confidence or items with significant emotional meaning. We all know what it is like to lose something or someone.

For me, the death of my dream to become a professional dancer was a life changing loss.

From the day that I could walk, I would eat, sleep and breathe DANCE. Any chance I got to be a part of a dance group I would take it! Early on, my mom enrolled me in dance classes with a company named Desiree’s Dance Theatre, where I discovered my love for contemporary and hip-hop dance.

Images obtained from Google

In prep school, I apparently thought one dance group was not enough so I signed myself up for my church’s dance group, my prep school’s dance troupe and even took ballet classes.

Name a genre of dance and I guarantee that I have given it a try. 

Dance became my life. The more I did it, the more I realised that it was my dream career. I dreamt of being a backup dancer for popular singers such as Beyonce and Chris Brown.

Little did I know that an injury would change the course of my life.

In 2015, I twisted my ankle after falling down steps at my high school. At the time, I did not realise the severity of the injury and therefore, continued about my day as if nothing happened despite the excruciating pain I was in. To add salt to injury, I continued going to dance classes without seeking medical help.

However, after the 3rd post injury dance class, the pain became unbearable forcing me to seek medical attention. Upon visiting the doctor, I learnt that I had indeed twisted my ankle due to the fall and the pressure from engaging in such a physical activity caused the injury to develop into “Chronic Ankle Instability”, which is supposed to be treatable. However, in my case, despite trying multiple treatments like physiotherapy and surgery, I noticed that the pain would not subside and even got worse whenever I danced. Therefore, I was forced to give up on my dream.

At first, giving up my passion felt like the end of the world. Watching dance shows felt strange (STILL DO), since I became accustomed to being the one on stage as opposed to the viewer. However….

The show, that is my life, must go on!!!

Instead of sobbing over what I lost, I decided to cherish the memories that I made during my 9+ years of dancing. 

My quest to find a new passion resulted in me becoming more open-minded to trying numerous creative pastimes such as singing, baking, photography and writing. I am now open to numerous career opportunities.

It turns out that my injury was the worst and best thing to happen to me.