I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you amazing dance teachers, ographers, studio owners, guest teachers, and everyone else who helps young people develop their dance abilities. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your wonderful dance community.
Dance is a precious art form that requires a spectacular amount of dedication, knowledge, skill, and training. From concept to choreography, music to costumes, hair to make-up, and every movement, hundreds upon hundreds of hours go into a single routine of three minutes…. three amazing and beautiful minutes, never repeated in exactly the same way twice.
At times, it may be hard to remember all the positives of dance, especially when you are dealing with crazy parents who don’t read the material you send, and students who don’t want to put in the time and effort, yet want to dance like Misty Copeland. It’s easy to be frustrated about the time and energy required to recruit new students, update your web page, chase parents who are late with their payments, coordinate recital ticket sales, pay the bills, and the thousands of other tasks on your plate which aren’t nearly as fun as inventing new choreography or being in the studio teaching your kids.
At those difficult times, take a deep breath, stop for one minute, and remember that:
- you are creating something of exquisite fragility and beauty, lasting but a few performances before a new routine takes its place
- you are making the world a better place with the beautiful routines you create in it
- most importantly of all, you are building beautiful human beings, giving them a purpose, a pride, and dedication in the craft that they love so much
It’s the last one on the above list that is the most lasting and impactful. You never know when that small child you teach is going to herself grow into a beautiful dance teacher, and inspire yet another generation of dancers to take flight.
Never forget.
What you do is beautiful.
What you create is beautiful.
Who you touch, is beautiful.
No one can do it exactly the way you do, with as much care and passion for your students.
Break a leg this recital season, and don’t let the drama-mamas nor pompous-papas get you down!