Transcriber: Mai Ngân Nguyễn Reviewer: Sebastian Betti
I am not a dancer.
I don’t know how to own a camera or work the stage.
I am not a dancer.
I don’t have a dancer’s body.
My body is definitely not long or lean. I don't have a slim frame.
Plus, I have invisible abs.
I am not a dancer.
I don’t wear a sports bra or crop tops with cool joggers.
I wear a tank top and leggings.
I am not a dancer and yet I love dancing.
I am Sofia and I am the co-founder of 808 Studio,
Manila's first boutique dance fitness studio.
Dance has always been my first love.
My mom would tell me that at five years old,
I would not stop dancing to Michael Jackson.
It didn’t matter whether we were at home or walking down the street.
I will just break into dancing at the most random time.
By the age of 10,
my favorite pastime was to spend hours in my bedroom, dancing to Britney Spears.
Performing at family events
or school talent shows were the highlight of my year.
Dance just gave me so much joy.
As I reached my teen years, my love for dancing never changed.
But like a lot of teens, insecurities began to enter my mind.
I remember there was a school performance where I was selected as the class leader.
I was so proud of myself until one of the girls told me
that the reason I was chosen was not because I was talented.
It was because I was a safe option
so that the more talented girls wouldn’t fight over the position.
Dance had always given me so much joy,
but suddenly it also became the source of why I didn’t feel good enough,
not skinny enough, not cool enough.
Dance became this exclusive club I wasn’t welcome in
because I certainly did not match the ideal of what it meant to be a dancer.
All these insecurities led me to pull back from dancing.
I would still dance here or there
but I mostly passed on so many opportunities.
When I look back at my high school years,
I’m always left with question of what could have been.
As the years went by and I’ve got to live in amazing cities like Los Angeles,
San Francisco, New York, I found myself being pulled back into dancing again,
and again.
It didn’t matter which city I was living in at the moment.
I would always find myself in a dance studio
and immerse myself in the community there.
Dancing in a foreign country where no one knew me
enabled me to find the joy and dancing again.
Whenever I went back home to Manila, however, it was a totally different story.
I would avoid dance studios at all costs.
I would feel frustrated because once again,
I was that young girl who let my fear take over me.
I was too scared to dance for fear of not being good enough.
It made me question
why did I have to be anonymous in a different country to do what I love.
But one day, I finally got tired of letting my fear take over.
I decided to do something about it.
I started imagining a space where everyone felt free to dance
without the fear of judgment or competition.
And dance community were even people with no dance experience could just have fun.
And that is how 808 Studio was born.
808 Studio as a Manila’s first boutique dance fitness studio by batik
By boutique, we mean an elevated dance fitness experience
the country has never seen before.
Imagine instructors who are the best dancers in the country.
A live DJ for each class.
A beautiful studio with shock-absorbing floors and flashing lights
that will make you feel like you’re in the club.
But most importantly,
an inclusive and supportive dance community that
welcomes dancers of all skill levels.
We were going to shake up the boutique fitness industry in the Philippines.
In March of 2020,
808 Studio was set to launch with a bang.
And then COVID happened,
and all our plans crumbled like a house of cards.
We were devastated, to say the least.
We even thought that maybe that was end of the road for us
because it was one thing for an existing studio to pivot online.
But what about a brand new fitness studio that no one's ever heard of?
It had never been done before, but as they say,
you’re only as good as your team.
And the 808 team believe that especially because of what everyone was going through
it was even more important to stick to our mission,
which was to spread joy through dance and fitness.
And so 808 Studio officially launched online in May of 2020.
It was definitely not the kind of launch we originally envisioned,
but I am so proud to say that 808 Studio has grown to be the country’s,
one of the country’s leading fitness studios.
In one year alone, our community has grown to over 20,000 in attendance.
More than a thousand classes, over 100 private parties in more than 10 countries.
Recently, we launched 808 on demand,
which allows people to get their dance cardio workout in anytime anywhere.
But I’m not here to talk about 808′s growth.
I’m here to talk about the impact dance has had
through 808 on the lives of Filipinos in the midst of a pandemic.
We have a mom dealing with cancer, said that
808 makes her feel alive and thriving.
We have sisters who said that dancing together on Zoom
made them bond and made them closer despite being apart for almost a year.
We have a business man who’s completed over 500 808 classes
and has lost over 20 pounds.
We have a bank executive who works abroad
and has not been able to go back home to the Philippines
since the start of the pandemic, says that
says that 808 classes make her feel closer to home.
We have a 10-year old boy who said that
he doesn’t mind waking up early on Saturdays
because it’s either way kids time.
And lastly, we have a college student
who never believed she was a good dancer growing up
until 808 released her inner diva.
I could go on and on about
the heartwarming stories people have shared
and how that has changed their lives for the better.
But when it comes down to it, dance has given us three things.
Dance has given us joy in the time of such loss,
and it’s given us community in the time of isolation.
Lastly, it has empowered us to be strong, confident human beings
who can face whatever comes their way.
It’s amazing how that has brought people of different ages,
of different shapes and sizes, of different backgrounds together online.
When my co-founder and I were dreaming of 808 Studio,
this is not exactly how we imagined it to be.
We pictured classes,
there were a full on production and a beautiful studio.
Although we can’t wait for the day when we can all dance together in person.
We believe that
what we’ve been able to create in the past year is even more beautiful
because we've been able to prove that dance has no boundaries.
No matter who you are or where you are.
dance will always be there to welcome you and give you joy.
In just a year, my view of dancing has completely changed.
Dance used to make me feel not good enough,
not skinny enough, not cool enough.
But what was once an exclusive club has now become a club.
I definitely feel welcomed.
When I dance, I feel joy.
I feel passionate, feel powerful.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned is that dance is not meant to keep people out.
It's meant to bring people together.
Now, more than ever, I feel so empowered to spread joy through dance and fitness.
I am Sophia and I am a dancer.
Thank you.