During electrotherapy...
電療中...
At four, I hid in the corner of the dance classroom, too afraid to join the other children. Ten years later, I can stand onstage and share something I love.
The audience sees the lights, the difficult steps, and the smile on my face. They hear the rhythm of my shoes and clap when the performance ends, they said, “You look like a different people onstage!” However, what they won’t see is where I go afterward: the rehab clinic.
To prepare for the performance, I sometimes practice more than my body can handle. I often have two classes a day, or practice over and over, none stop. Afterward, my knees, calves, and feet hurt.
“What happened? Did you pull a muscle?” the therapist asked.
“Um… too much dancing,” I replied, a little embarrassed.
At fourteen, I am usually the only teenager in the room. I sit beside people around fifty, feeling the tingles of electrical stimulation and the warmth of a heat pack. My feet finally stay still, but I keep thinking about the steps I want to improve.
Onstage, they see how far I have come. Offstage, I feel how much my body has been through.
It is frustrating. Dance helped me leave that corner, and now I want to keep going. But wanting to perform doesn’t make my legs hurt any less.
After the applause, the pain is still there, the waiting, and another rehab session. That is part of my dance story, too.
四歲時，我躲在舞蹈教室的角落裡，害怕得不敢和其他孩子一起玩。十年後，我終於可以站在舞台上，分享我熱愛的事物。
觀眾們看到燈光、高難度的舞步，以及我臉上的笑容。他們聽到我舞鞋的節奏，在演出結束時鼓掌，他們說：「你在舞台上完全不一樣！衝出來的時候好有氣勢！」 然而，他們看不到的是我演出結束後要去的地方：復健診所。
為了準備演出，我有時會練習到身體無法承受的程度。我常常一天上兩堂課，或一堂一堂的加課。演出結束後，我的膝蓋、小腿和腳都有說不出的痛。
「妹妹怎麼了？是肌肉拉傷嗎？」復健師問。
「嗯……跳舞跳太多了。」我有些不好意思地回答。
十四歲時，我通常是房間裡唯一的青少年。我坐在大約五十歲的人旁邊，感受著電療刺激的刺痛感和熱敷包的溫熱。我的雙腳終於能停下來休息一下，但我腦中卻一直想著要舞步。
在舞台上，觀眾們看到我走了多遠。在舞台下，我能感受到我的身體承受了多少。
這令人沮喪。舞蹈幫助我走出了那個角落，現在我想繼續前進。但想要表演並不能減輕我腿上的疼痛。
掌聲過後，依然是酸痛、等待和再一次復健。這也是我舞蹈故事的一部分。