Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Tobias.
Hi Tina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I started dancing when I was twelve years old after watching a reality TV show called Dance Moms. The dancing the young girls did on the show was something I’d never seen before, and I absolutely loved it. I started learning as much as I could off of YouTube tutorials, dancing for hours in my parents’ foyer, and when I turned thirteen, I joined a local competitive dance team. I went on to major in dance at The University if North Texas and am now a member of Zion II under Zion Dance Project.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey as a dancer has been filled so many peaks and valleys. The physical training is quite demanding, but the mental challenges associated with dance are more difficult in my opinion. There are so many pressures, both spoken and unspoken, to look a certain way in order to succeed. I struggled growing up with being a more muscular dancer and oftentimes felt like that held me back. I developed an eating disorder in college, losing thirty pounds in an attempt to become a more “desirable” dancer. After recovering from that, I began to embrace my body for what it was. Joining Zion Dance Project and seeing the diversity among such high-level dancers helped me to really appreciate my body for what it is.
Another challenging aspect of being a dancer is dealing with rejection. As it goes with any job, being told no is inevitable. However, those no’s can hold a lot more weight when you’ve spent hours putting your body and heart into anticipating a yes. Navigating that disappointment is challenging at first, but each no is also a lesson to be learned. In some cases, I’ve been told no because I don’t have enough training in certain dance styles or just didn’t have the right “look” that a company wants. When I was younger, I used to let those rejections be the deciding factor in how valuable I was and what I felt like I was capable of. But the longer I stay in the dance world the more I’ve learned that while it’s hard to hear no, it’s not indicative of my worth. My value doesn’t come from a title, paycheck, or spot in a formation. In the grand scheme of things, all humans are the same; we just see each other as being worth more or less based off our own measuring sticks. Once you change the measuring stick, you see that all humans have the same value, no matter what their title is. The rejection from people stings a little bit less, knowing your value doesn’t come from them. Disappointment of being told no comes from not achieving a goal as opposed to not being “good enough.” That’s a lot easier to recover from.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
When I’m not performing or teaching, I also love to choreograph dances. I come from a gymnastics background and have always been more athletic, so I love incorporating that side of my life into dance. I’m always trying to find the balance of physical skill and artistry, working to merge the two into one cohesive dance.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I think that pursuing a career in dance is a major risk in and of itself. There’s not much job security involved with being a freelance dancer and teacher. One month you can comfortably pay rent, and the next, you could be scraping bottom. I know myself and lots of other dancers have other jobs to keep them afloat in between gigs. Personally, I’m not a huge risk taker, but I’d rather take the risk of being a dancer over the security of having what my friends and I call a “real person job.”
Contact Info:
- Instagram: tinytina05
