Happy Mother's Day TDC

I would  like to wish the whole of my dance family a truly Happy Mother's Day.

My own mother cannot go unmentioned here.  She is the most kind, gentle, intuitive, loving soul I know.  I will thank her in person for how she goes above and beyond for me, my husband and my sons.  Here, I would like to thank her, certainly not for the first time,  for the gift of dance lessons.  With that, she facilitated and then continued to support an activity allowing me a relationship with the second most influential woman in my life, my wonderful dance teacher.   I am at a loss for words as to how to fully quantify the effects of Miss Diane Gudat's existence in my life.  As pertains to dance,  she "raised me." She is my "dance mother."  I now own the school she founded; dance literally is my life.  If you are reading this, you likely already know that, but if not, it doesn't take long to figure it out.  To say she was "Influential" would be an understatement.  She showered on me, as she does all of her students her love of dance and sharing that love.  She shared her passion, knowledge, creativity, insane sense of humor, light-hearted approach and charismatic personality, over countless hours of my life and built me into the continually evolving and growing "dance being" I am today.  Thank you Miss Diane for the gift.

TDC Moms!!!! You all rock! Thank you for sharing your children with us.  Thank you for the value you place on a dance education in a child's life.  Thank you for appreciating and choosing us, for what we do.  Yesterday the Elite Ensemble members had a 7:30am call for competition day and the advanced dancers were still dancing at midnight.  This is actually a tame example of the commitment many of these dancers, and hence forth, their parents, have to make to a competitive weekend.  I want to thank that special group of Dance Moms (and Dads!), who are NOTHING like those ones on TV.  They are pleasant, supportive, helpful, committed, non-drama creating people.  Enjoy your no Sunday competition Mother's Day weekend.  Thank you for sharing part of it with me, and with smiles.

It only stands to reason from such great parents, would come great kids.  Some of these dancers spend 10 or more hours a week in the studio.  Many I have watched grow since they were three.  I am so proud of the dance beings they are becoming.  I feel each one of these beautiful, unique souls are my "dance children." I wish to give them experiences from The Dance Company that will positively touch and enhance their lives as mine so truly did.   I would like to thank them this Mother's Day, for being the special member of my dance family that they are.  You make me proud.  You inspire me.   You give me the opportunity to share what was given to me.  You are special and you are loved.

Bragging here on both my sets of kids

Hunter & Hudson, with Daddy, the loves of my life.  

& 

Some of TDCs Ensemble members, very late in the evening after some amazing performances  at Encore Talent Competition.  

The Power of Teamwork!

I am so proud of the teamwork I see surrounding The Dance Company.  It is a beautiful thing and TDC would not exist without it!

I witness my staff pulling together to create productions and train dancers.  They communicate about dancers's needs, and collaborate on choreography and best teaching practices.  They help each other cover classes so that family time and contract work, and even the occasional illness are possible for each other.  They are a truly passionate and caring bunch of people who demonstrate excellence and commitment everyday.  I could not be more proud of the example they set for our students.

My heart is also terribly warm with the outpouring of support we have received for our Nutcracker Kickstarter campaign! The team spirit that went into reaching our funding goal was exciting and inspiring!  Friends, Family, Alumni and even strangers showed up to help in whatever denomination they could.  Our backdrop is reserved!  Rehearsals are under way.  Costume are chosen.  Soloists are looking beautiful thanks to their hard work in class with Miss Diane Gudat, our founder and Ballet Mistress.  Everyone is getting excited!

Our campaign doesn't actually end until 11pm Monday, November 4th, so you can still add to our fund!  Exceeding our funding goal will add to our stage scenery and costume budget, we have a long wish list!

I feel blessed to be part of, and carry on a tradition at The Dance Company that has reached and impacted so many through the years.  Thank you donors for supporting our vision.  You have helped make some amazing things happen for some great dancing kids.  Not just with this fundraiser, but with every pizza, flower, ticket or tutu you have been part of! I cannot wait for you to enjoy the show, and/or your gifts!  I am amazed at what our dancer's can accomplish, all while attending school, and many learning Ensemble Repertoire and competition solos also, at the same time.  Truly a team effort to coordinate within their lives and families!
More Teamwork at Work!

Keep it up Folks! You Rock! And not like the Christmas lump of coal kind of rock.  But Rockstar Rock.

Check out all the goblins in the annual TDC Halloween Party costume parade! It was a great night!  Disco ball shining bright as always! Thanks for all your help staff and parents!

Help Us Kickstart Our Nutcracker into High Gear

Preparations for our Nutcracker are underway!  Waltzing flowers and fluttering snowflakes dance through the studio! We are hoping to add some extra pizzaz to our Nutcracker this year and in order to avoid raising costs to our clients to make that happen, we thought we'd give a new fundraising platform a try!

Our Kickstarter.com campaign is live! Check out our project page and share it with all of our friends and family! We are going to do some really fun things with the funds we hope to raise and you get some sweet rewards for helping us out! Donations as small as $10 are accepted.  We hope you can help, or help us spread the word, so we can make our most magical Nutcracker yet!

Bring a Friend! I Dare You!

Wow, I've been busy! The first month of class at the studio has been great! It is serious fun being back with the dancers and it's going to be an awesome year!

The new season always feels like that new notebook you open on the first day of school.  New starts, new classes and goals, new choreography and costumes, and a renewed sense of drive and dedication from the staff and students fills the hallways.  We all want to be better than we were.  It's exciting and motivating.  I encourage you to keep that energy as we head into the long cold winter! Stay focused and disciplined!

It's going to be a fun times at TDC this week...It's Bring a Friend Week! This is a great opportunity to show that curious friend or relative what you to at dance class and let them participate with you! No prior dance experience is necessary for visitors, however their age should be appropriate for the class they will be visiting with you.
Bring and friend, and if you and your friend can come to me (Miss Stephanie) with the answer to the trivia question below, I'll have a special surprise for you both!

What is the name of the composer of The Nutcracker Suite? 

Wise Words from Miss Diane

I'd like to share a post today, instead of writing my own.

Check out Miss Diane's words about appropriate choreography for children.  Diane was the founder of The Dance Company and my teacher and mentor.  She is the catalyst for so much of who I have become as a dancer and now educator, it is only appropriate that these words and thoughts would sum up so eloquently TDC's philosophy and mission when it comes to age appropriate material and why we make the choreographic and musical choices we do for our dancers.



Read The Post Here!

Visions of Sugarplums

It might still be August, but visions of sugarplums are dancing in my head! 

It's official....

This is going to be a wonderful opportunity for all of the Ballet and Preschool students at the studio to participate in a treasured classic for the Holiday Season.  I have so many ideas and plans; not sure which ones we'll end up scrapping and what will make it into the show, but I do know we will make this the best Nutcracker yet!   I can't wait to get started.   Soloist and class roles will be announced and work will begin shortly after we return to classes in just over a week! Make sure to visit the Nutcracker Page on the Website once the date gets closer for all the details every student and parent will need to waltz through the season like a flower!

Why Do We Teach That?

I decided to break form and blow up my blog a little.  You know how they say things happen for a reason.  Well, I subscribe to that.  I got an early Happy Birthday message from someone whom I admire greatly and consider myself blessed to attribute much of my Jazz dance knowledge and training to, Mr. Tom Ralabate.  It's funny when your iPad Facebook pops little bubbles of faces up on your screen.  It's even funnier when you happened to just be sitting with their book in your lap shortly before.

Let me talk about this book for a moment.  I am a dork.  This is no Harry Potter or Twilight, or whatever you kiddos are reading these days.  It's better!  When I open this book, I am immediately reminded of why we do things the way we do at The Dance Company, and I am encouraged to stay the course.  Just the table of contents could scare away your average non-dancer...I can hear my husband now, "wow, a whole section on walks? How many ways can you walk?"  Well honey, enough to spend years educating a dancer, and this is just one example of what should be included in a comprehensive Jazz Dance education.  Jazz Dance is a truly American art form.  It has grown out of who we are as a people and a society.  Only by knowing where we came from, can we look forward and progress.  I love tricks and turns and awesome, "WOW did you see that" dance virtuosity as much as the next person.  These must be part of a driven dancer's repertoire.  All dancers should push their limits and try new things and want to be better, this is vital.  With this should be included a desire to know where the dance came from, and why it exits.  As a teacher, if I do not impart this knowledge, these art forms we love so much will cease to exits and be shared to their fullest beauty.  A generation of one dimensional dancers and choreographers will exits with no context of WHY we dance they way we do or how we can draw from the past to inform our futures as creative contributors to the dance community.  Or the World community for that matter.  And that folks, is ultimately why we do what we do at The Dance Company.  Thanks Mr. Tommy for the inspiration, knowledge,  book and the birthday wish!