Improvisation as a practice

I've decided to start improvisation as a dance practice to challenge myself to always be truthful with myself and the audience. I see dance as an ancient, celebratory way of being, and through improvisation I find that I consistently stay in the moment and find movement that expresses my truest self. My body leads me to discover things about myself through movement because motion expresses emotion, and sometimes it's hard to confront your emotions face to face. Dance releases you. There is a silent communication between your body, mind and spirit, and if you are able to listen to your body it will lend itself to you. It is really a spiritual practice for me that doesn't differentiate between dancer and "non-dancer," everyone can dance and everyone should dance, but sometimes the reason to dance can get lost in the technical and competitive field of dance. I've danced since I could remember. My technical training did not start until 19 years of age, but I was most free before all that. The most important thing I've gained through my education of dance is how to gain control of your movement and focus your expression to create a piece of art. Letting go of that and using improvisation, I find that it becomes more real, because that is how life is. Freedom shows itself to me through dance. It allows me to be myself, and if I move with sincere and honest intent and commitment, it is interesting for the audience. Performing improvisation also provides the opportunity for a dancer to gain confidence in who they are and that expressing who they are and what they feel is important and very real. And I strongly feel that this is something that needs to be reinforced in our society today; improvisation can help us heal our disconnected and sad souls, it can help us find ourselves and start loving ourselves and each other.