To Every Dancer

To Every Dancer in Every Dance Studio in the world,

You are amazing.  

You are beautiful.

You are a force to be reckoned with.

You are strong.

You have everything you need inside of you to be the dancer that you want to be.

It doesn't matter what's going on at school....

It doesn't matter what's going on at home......

It doesn't matter what's going on with your friends.....

It doesn't matter what's going on with your with your family.

          Dance it off.

Dance like no one is looking.

Dance like there is nothing else in the world that can affect you.

Dance what's in your heart.  Show the world what you can do.

Maybe you take dance for one hour a week, maybe it's every day of the week.

Maybe you love ballet, maybe it's hip hop or tap.

Maybe you strive to be part of a company one day or dance professionally, maybe not.

Maybe you have beautiful turnout or naturally graceful form and maybe you have to work harder

Maybe your kicks are to your nose and maybe they're not even waist high. 

         It doesn't matter.  Dance anyway.  You don't have to be perfect; you just have to be you.

You see, dance is not JUST about form and technique.  Those are the foundation.

On top of that foundation are the bricks of emotion.  Pour yourself into it.

Pour that love you have into it.

You are incredible and the world is proud of you.

Love,

A Dance Teacher that wishes every dancer heard this more often

Do Your Best

Big changes are always hard..... always.  Even when you get excited about them.  Even when you think you are really prepared, they always present a challenge.  Here's my biggest piece of advice that I can give..... Do your best to accept the LITTLE changes that come with the big changes.  Do your very best to accept the little changes because they're coming....in abundance.  The reality is that it takes a bunch of teeny tiny changes to make a big one.  Sometimes it's changes in your lifestyle or habits.  Sometimes it's changes in your environment.  Sometimes it's changes in who your surround yourself with.  It can be anything but try to be ready to go with the flow as much as possible.

How much Greater

Today, I'll just leave you with a thought....

How much more wonderful would our world be if we accepted other's differences and embraced them as our own?  How much more wonderful would it be if we looked at how others thought different than we did and applauded them for simply making a choice on what they decided?

Give Our Children a Voice

We need to stop trying to silence our children.  We need to look deeper at what they're trying to say.  It's as simple as that.  Allow me to explain....

I am a firm believer in children learning boundaries.  I believe that children need to learn that there is a time and a place to exercise your opinion.  Our job, as parents and caregivers, is to teach them to function in the adult world and creative productive adults.  We definitely need to teach them to respect adults, pay attention in class (or jobs), do their best and all of the other important lessons that encourage kids to productive adulthood.

Here's the thing.....

We need to give them a voice too.  I'm not talking about encouraging them to complain about every little thing and try to be the boss of their house.  What I'm talking about is encouraging them to explain themselves.  I'm talking about encouraging them to be involved and to shape their future through using their voices.  I'm talking about teaching them to speak up when they need to...speak up for themselves, speak up for their friends, speak up for their community.  I'm talking about empowering them and letting them have  a say in their lives and how they spend their days.  (No that does not mean allowing them to participate in harmful activities just because they want to).

Give them a voice and teach them to use it.

Unique Qualities

Every child on this planet (and every adult, for that matter) has the potential for greatness.  Let me repeat that....every single child on this planet has the potential for greatness.  EVERY child has incredible gifts that were put inside them.  EVERY child has strengths and unique qualities that no one else has.  Some of them require words and some are completely non-verbal.  Some require grand gestures of grandeur and some are just gifted with giving people a warm feeling simply by being there.  Some are great dancers with amazing technique and others are great dancers simply because they love it so much and convey it in their movements.  Some are beautiful singers and some are great mathematicians.  The point is that every child has something unique inside of them when you allow them to do what they love.  While it's a great idea to expose them to many different things, it is not a good idea to force them into things (especially at a young age). Let them figure out what they love and what they are great at and then find a way to encourage it!

Vote

We are just a week away from election day and I couldn't be happier.  No seriously, I couldn't be happier.  I'm incredibly sick of seeing the political ads stabbing at each other but no one saying what they'll ACTUALLY do to help the state of our state/nation.  I'm sick to death of hearing the touching music played as they show negative quotes that make it sound like whichever candidate intentionally wants to hurt children or women or the constituents of the state/country.  I have never been a voter in an election that has caused me to spend so much time saying, "Can't we all just get along?"

Look, I will not ever tell you who you should vote for.  I won't even hint at it.  Part of the beauty of living in our beautiful nation is that you don't have to discuss it with anyone.  More importantly, I don't have a single desire to want to tell anyone what to do with their life or their vote.  What I do ask you to do is use your voice.  Use your vote to make that voice heard.  Educate yourself and then cast your ballot for whatever candidates you think are best.

Celebrate your freedom.

Halloween Advice

Here are my 5 big nuggets of advice/commentary on Halloween this year......

1.  If your children are of the "older trick or treater" variety, please teach them to take a step back for the younger kids if they're all rushing to the door at the same time.  The young 'ens have less experience and will, often, freeze up if they're shoved out of the way.  Not to mention, we should be teaching our older kids to be good examples anyway.  Seriously, tell them to take a step back, encourage the little ones forward first and then get their candy.  Compassion, helpful attitudes and patience are always important lessons.

2.  If you are a clown or you decided to let your kid dress up as a clown, just be aware that this is not a great year for it, especially with the kids.  You are opening yourself up to a whole lot of scared people who may react out of fear if you try to scare them.  In short, don't be a dick because it's a good way to get shot by an unsuspecting homeowner that is just trying to protect their home and think that you're attacking them.

3.  "Please" and "Thank you".  Seriously.  Use them early and use them often.  If my kids are rude at someone's house, I make them return their candy.  Believe me....they make it a priority.

4.  Please don't be the house that says "aren't you too old?"  They might well be "too old" but at least they're not out egging houses and causing mischief.  Worse yet, at least they aren't out partying and getting drunk or drugged out.  Be part of the solution, not the problem.  It's not really costing you much to give them a piece of candy and tell them they have a great costume.

5.  Stranger danger.  I can't stress this enough.  Halloween is prime time for people to be able to snatch kids.  Keep your kids close and teach them to not walk away with ANYONE else.  Candy is not worth disappearing.  Halloween is a fun holiday but child abductions are a very real thing.  If your kids are going out "on their own," make sure they do it with a group.  Keep them safe.  Monsters aren't always dressed that way; they often look more innocent than most.