Onstage, the intense lights glared and the five seconds seemed like an eternity.

My body tingled. I was nervous and perspir- ing from the hot lights. Glancing to my left and right, I saw the girls I had practiced with for the past week.

I was anxious, and wondered, "Will I remember the dance?"

When I heard the first note of the song -- "Musicology," by Prince -- all my nervousness evaporated, and I plunged into the tap routine.

As soon as I finished, the applause told me that we had nailed it. I was overjoyed. All the hard work of the past week was worth it.

Who could have guessed that it had only been a week since I had put on my first pair of tap shoes?

While I had studied jazz and ballet for the past year, at this summer's weeklong intense camp, I danced all day and frequently into the night.

It was called the Dance for the Musical Theatre Stage Camp in Washington, D.C., and every day we had two hours each of ballet, tap and jazz classes with occasional performance rehearsals, modern dance clinics and lectures about careers in the performing arts.

It was intimidating to be around so many girls who had danced since preschool. But I had some great teachers. Every day my pirouettes became more precise, my leaps were more graceful, and my tap steps sounded clearer and sharper. My self-consciousness fell away. I began to adore tap; the looser style was a welcome change from the structure of ballet.

In addition to the dancing, I loved the new friendships; I met girls from 13 states and from Singapore, too. We lived in the Americans' dormitory, so we spent the nights hanging out between the rooms until curfew. We talked about our home lives, complained about the teachers, and worried about the performance. We also just laughed at the silly things girls who have danced all day say late at night.

It was an awesome experience, but it also made me realize that the sacrifice required to become a professional dancer is not for me. I don't want to spend my life dieting, or dancing 20-plus hours a week.

Dance will always be my love, but it won't be my life.