Hasseman travels to Thailand to dance
COSHOCTON – Skylar Hasseman has been passionate about dance her whole life and recently had the opportunity to dance in another country. Hasseman traveled to Thailand in January with nine other dancers from Kent State’s Dance Division where they danced with a Thai classical dance masters class at a local university.
“It’s just really crazy to watch them dance,” said Hasseman. “It’s mostly all arms, and that’s all they do. It’s very intricate and very syncopated.”
Dancers had to audition for this once-in-a-lifetime chance to dance in Thailand. Once the team was chosen, each individual had to raise their own traveling funds through fundraising. Dancers also sold t-shirts as a fundraiser created by Hasseman Marketing and Design. With enough funds through fundraising and a school grant, the team left for Thailand on Jan. 3.
Hasseman first joined her fellow dancers on Jan. 1 to rehearse at Kent State for two days. The group left two days later and returned Jan. 17.
“We got there all super tired because of jetlag, but it was nine in the morning there, so we had a full day of it,” said Hasseman.
The group had a full day of rehearsing and had spare time in the evenings to tour Thailand, go shopping, and visit temples.
“It gave me a different perspective of things because of all the cultural differences they have compared to here,” said Hasseman.
They were able to do a performance in Bangkok and Hua-Hin.
“It was all about the experience and the culture and being able to dance in a different country,” Hasseman said.
Although the performances were memorable, Hasseman remembers spending time with the elephants as one of her happier memories.
“The performances were great, but the one memory that sticks out is the elephants,” she said. “We got to ride the elephants and have our pictures taken with the baby elephants.”
Hasseman has been dancing for 16 years and started at Miss Jennifer’s Dance Studio. She is a 2016 graduate of Coshocton High School and is a dance major at Kent State University.
“Dance is probably my place to feel free,” said Hasseman. “It’s stress free and its’ where I go to relax.”
Hasseman has already had auditions to dance professionally and her goal is to own her own studio and teach. She hopes to travel again in the future but she wants to make more of an impact next time she visits a foreign country.
“The next time I travel with dance, I want to try to make more of an impact on where I visit,” she said. “In Thailand, they have such a poor economy and there’s pollution and trash everywhere. I wish I could fix it some way, through dancing or not. That is my goal.”
Category: People & Places
