As someone who believes very strongly in fate, I often find myself saying, “When ya know, ya know.” In the case of Jessica Haims, this couldn’t be any truer.
Jessie, who graduated from Drew University with a degree in Women’s Studies in December, a semester early, discovered her passion for dance “by complete accident,” at age 15.
“I had gone with my mom to her dance lesson after school and she was planning on dropping me off at a friend’s house afterwards. As I watched her dance, I was mesmerized and thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Instead of going to my friend’s house…I took my first lesson,” Jessie warmly explained.
“After that lesson, I said to my mom, I want to finish high school early and dance. I don’t know what came over me, I just knew that I had to be involved in it and in that moment, I knew my life would be consumed by the arts. It was kinda a gut instinct feeling,” she smiled.
Well, if Jessie’s journey with dance is any indication of how truthful your gut may be, we better all start goin’ with it.
In 2011, this gal won herself the 2011 national AND world champion titles in the American Smooth Pro Am ball room dance division, all because she trusted her instinct.
After the epiphany she had while watching her mom dance, Jessie, “petitioned [her] high school to let [her] graduate early so that [she] could have a year to focus on dance training.”
“I knew I had A LOT to learn because I was starting later and life, and if I really wanted this, I would have to work incredibly hard,” she explained. “I was granted permission to graduate early, and began driving from Connecticut to New Jersey on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and New York on Tuesdays and Thursday to train. On weekends, I practiced from home,” she explained.
“My entire life became about dance. I had no social life what so ever, but I was fine with it because I was pursuing a passion. I had the support of my family, and I got to travel around the country to dance,” Jessie said.
While Jessie’s discovery of her passion for dance was quite accidental, it eventually proved to be a saving grace that entered her life at the most perfect time. A victim of two encounters with sexual violence at a very young age, Jessie accredits dance, and other passions for making her whole again.
“Dance allowed me to heal, love my body, and realize that experience doesn’t define the rest of my life or who I am,” she explained. “It helped me in not letting the experience ruin intimate relationships for me. Dancing is very intimate, expressive, and personal so it helped me feel those emotions again without being scared.”
In line with this idea, Jessie explained that even though she has grown an incredible amount since her experiences with sexual violence, “emotions are very hard for [her],” even still. “When I started dance, it was the only place where I wasn’t sad for a very long time, it was the only place I could laugh and feel safe. Particularly in ballroom dance where you are so intimate with your dance partner, acting like you’re in love, it allowed me to establish a new, more defined, comfort zone with those feelings,” she elaborated.
“Dance created a space where I could express myself, know that I was in control over my own body and that no one else was, it taught me to be strong, and to never give up, to work incredibly hard, and to remember that giving up is not an option. If one way doesn’t work, you have to try plan b…or…c….or…d,” she smiled.
While Jessie is incredibly thankful for what dance has offered her, she explained that she most definitely still struggles with what she is feeling and how to express it. However, instead of feeling forced to hide, or cry it out, she now has the option to dance it out! “When I’m mad or frustrated, I can channel that energy towards an awesome tango. When I’m sad or upset, I channel that towards my waltz to give a real performance.”
Now, it is incredibly obvious that dance has been an extremely gratifying and rewarding part of Jessie’s life, but as of late, her dance career has taken a bit of a backset to her more recent passion: yoga. “During college, I would train for dance a minimum of four hours a day. I am currently looking for a new partner, so I haven’t competed in awhile, and I only train with my coach two times a week. But- I still practice daily by myself and can’t wait to get back on the floor,” she explained.
As mentioned, in the meantime, Jessie busies herself with yoga, among many other things. “I am teaching over 21 yoga classes, as well as training private clients. Additionally, I’m trying out new partners, working with a new company that wants to incorporate my yoga skills to help dancers, volunteering in centers to help women, and continuing personal yoga training,” she went on.
AND- Jessie proudly just registered her LLC. This LLC will eventually be a center for yoga and dance therapy to help women who are survivors of sexual violence, a dream this girl has been building towards since the day I met her four years ago. Since dance and yoga have helped Jessie cope with her own struggles, she says she feels that, “If [she] were able to survive and have dance and yoga help [her], it would be shame for [her] to not share these gifts with those who need it the most.”
“When I have a passion, especially one that can help others, I feel that to not try to pursue it one hundred percent would be so sad. I’m currently working towards this goal by reaching out to crisis centers and a lot of my clients are women who have body image disorders. Beyond working with women who are victims of sexual violence, I want to help young women feel empowered and proud of their bodies, not ashamed,” she continued.
As for a next step, Jessie explained that she would love to own her own yoga studio and start charity work out of it. “If someone finds a passion so young, it’s for a reason. With MY passion, it is my goal to help as many people as I can through my yoga and dance. When we have a gift, we should use it in the best way we can,” she said.
Outside of dance and yoga, Jessie explained that she is incredibly fascinated by the human body and how it reacts to food. “I’m always reading about it and looking to get my dietician’s license in a year or two. I’m always craving knowledge and looking to educate myself whenever I can,” she said. And, as someone who sat beside her in several classes, I will vouche for this J She is an inspiringly smart girl on a mission!
“I’m also very very very very,” she exaggerated, “passionate about helping women in all spheres: everyday life, personal life, and particularly politics,” she explained. “I am so worried about the direction in which our culture is headed in terms of the treatment of women. I try to do my part as best I can to fight this. As much as I love yoga and dance, I’ve always thought about going to get my PhD one day. We need more female voices so these men are no longer making laws about our bodies. I can’t believe its 2013 and there are still issues about women accessing contraception.”
In concluding our conversation, Jessie explained, “As you can see, I don’t like to stay still. I’m always working on another idea, always looking for work, and finding another way to improve myself. I am inspired and awed by women who fought for our rights and equality and for me to not continue that idea would be an insult to all of that hard work.”
“I don’t yet know where I will end up in terms of helping women and the fight for reproductive freedom, rights, and equality, but I know my strong passion for it will lead me and take me very far,” she said, and I, as her peer, couldn’t agree more. Whether it be through yoga, dance, politics, or a combination of the three, Jessie’s promising mission and method will most definitely prove groundbreaking in the journey of women’s health one day.
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