What the Borg Taught Me About Ballroom Dancing

 

 

 

“We, too, are on a quest to better ourselves, evolving toward a state of perfection” – Borg Queen

 

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the Borg…

Assimilation?

Resistance is futile?

Whatever comes to your mind, it probably wouldn’t be ballroom dancing.

As a ballroom dancer, I like to wear a lot of accessories.  As a science fiction fan, I like those accessories to have a somewhat nerdy element, so at a recent ballroom dance training convention, my nerdy accessory of choice was a Borg cube necklace.  It was subtle enough to look nice and, as a bonus, super cool – especially if you knew what it actually was.

When asked why I had chosen to represent the Borg by one of our trainers, I was delighted that someone knew what it was, surprised by the question, and had to think about how to articulate the answer to it.  It didn’t take me long to realize that the Borg actually represent something many fellow dancers, and I, are constantly striving for…

….the search for perfection.

Why do the Borg assimilate in the first place?  They are constantly looking for cultures and technology to add to their ‘perfection’. “Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own”.  Normally, most people see this as a negative but isn’t this what we are doing everyday?  I’m not talking about the brutal transformations of humanoids to drones, but more so about the assimilation of knowledge and technique and our ongoing quest for perfection…a perfection that doesn’t exist.

As a dancer I’m constantly striving for more knowledge…how do I achieve perfect Cuban Motion?  How can I acquire the perfect arm styling?  The perfect footwork?

We search for knowledge and look to the experience of others.  In our own way we are ‘assimilating’ those experiences and taking as much information as we can from coaches, fellow competitors, personal trainers, books and videos…all in the search of perfection for our art.

There is no perfection, and yet we can’t stop searching and reaching for it, and we live for it.  It’s what drives us.

So to answer the question…the Borg cube, to me, represents the dedication and striving for perfection that can never be obtained but is our driving force to be something greater.

Barbara Lynn Copp is Supervisor for the Advanced Student Department, dance competitor and long-time teacher at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Coquitlam, British Columbia.  Barbara has a passion for dancing since her start in ballet at age 4.