Dancing through the highs and lows

Matt Tomaszewski has danced for 26 years, going to several dance schools before ending up at Kirsty Marshalls Academy of Dance. He describes dance as more than just an average hobby, saying it is a “place I can let go of myself.”

Tomaskewski believes dancing has taught him so much in life, with the sport being as disciplined as it is. At a younger age if he attended a dance lesson without practice wear, he was unable to dance but still had to pay; as well as the discipline of the sport itself being so technical. Teaching him more than just dance, but life skills he would carry with him forever. Allyson Vuli, a Dance Movement Psychotherapist said: “I believe that in addition to the physiological and social benefits, the psychological benefit is in the elements of self-discipline, self-discovery, and self-expression.”

Tomaskewski uses dancing as an escapism from the outside world, using latin dancing to express his emotions while escaping reality. In 2016, his mother passed away a week after the national dance competition. His mum attended all dance competitions, and was Tomaskewski’s biggest supporter, cheering the loudest every time. When his mother passed, he continued dancing and attending competitions, doing the very thing they loved doing together. Which helped him manage his grief in the form of expression, saying dance is his “safe and happy place.”

Vuli believes escapism is beneficial for individuals, she said: “The ‘escape’ can be a way to get respite from difficult experiences, allow people to get lost in the dance and embody thoughts and feelings in a way that can bring a different perspective, and this helps build resilience to withstand the challenges life bring us.”

At the most recent dance competition, Tomaskewski took home the first-place trophy, naming him the nationwide latin champion in his age category. Everyone in the dance community cheered for him as he took his trophy, with many tears shared as Tomaskewski is known and loved in the dance world. Alongside this, he has never won first place, so the win was felt at a larger magnitude. Kirsty Marshall said: “He’s come over a lot and it was particularly emotional because Matt’s mum had always believed he would win so this one was for her.”

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“People here always have my back, even at comps when competing against each other”

KMAD is known as one big family throughout the dance world. The dancers, teachers, and family members are known to be more than just people sharing the same hobby but are emotional and physical support, shoulders to cry on, and the loudest cheerers. Tomaskewski said: “I’ve been to loads of different dance schools before and each one of them have been amazing in their own way but this one is just like a family, and I don’t see myself going anywhere else again now.” As well as saying that, “people here always have my back, even at comps when competing against each other.” This was felt at the most recent dance competition with Tomaskewski having a standing ovation when retrieving his trophy, from numerous different dance schools. All of them knew how much he deserved it.

As well as using dance as an escapism, Tomaskewski also likes passing on his knowledge and passion for dancing to the younger generations. He can be seen at dance practices sharing techniques with those younger than him as well as teaching them valuable lessons he was taught growing up. Even though dancing is physically hard work, and dancers can be seen sweating and breathless he still describes coming to dancing as his happy place, being able to dance and being surrounded by friends.