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Rodriguez, who teaches at Teaneck Dance Art Creative Center, started dancing when she was 4. The 23-year-old only stopped when diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer last May.
"Cancer isn't the end," Rodriguez told Daily Voice after she returned to her passion following her recovery. "I think sharing my story ... is important. It connects me with people who have experiened it in their own life. In that there's so much power because it makes us all feel not alone and we can get through it."
She started dancing again in August and began teaching in Teaneck two months later. Teaching was something she didn't expect to do, but she said she likes going back to the foundation of dancing while instructing.
Rodriguez mostly practices modern dance but teaches ballet. She attended Rosa Parks Performing Arts High School in Paterson.
Despite all her experience, it was still hard to dance again after her chemotherapy.
"My body I guess after the chemo really deteriorated. That's what it felt like to me," she said. "I had no arm strength. My legs were weak. Going up a set of stairs was difficult, I was out of breath. For me who was so active for a pair of stairs to be hard, it was a little devastating."
With her legs back under her Rodriguez wants to tackle her next challenge of the Movement Invention Project, a three-week intensive improvisation session.
"To me it's an opportunity again to put myself out in the pool of pro dancers and pro students," she said. "I feel like I've been in the shadows for a little bit and it's an opportunity to give myself a chance to experience things again."
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