As many of you who are reading this I am sure know, we have launched our weekly classes in contemporary dance. I would be lying to you if I said it was a cakewalk to get to this point. There were many times where we weren’t sure it would happen. It takes an extremely large amount of time and hard work plus dedication! Time was the biggest thing we struggled with as this program is not really generating income at this point. However, because we have aligned ourselves with a dedicated team of amazingly talented people who are incredibly supportive and committed to making this happen, we did it! I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mindy Kendi, our amazing teacher who is volunteering her Fridays for this! I would also like to thank the Shaulis family who volunteer their Fridays to make sure that Sarah Shaulis and sometimes Sidney, can come help Mindy every week. Last but not least, I want to thank my good friend, Kara, who owns On Edge Movement and is kind enough to donate the space every Friday!
I am going to share with you a few “testimonials” if you will from our weekly class. THIS is the reason why we do what we do! THIS is why this program exists and we will stay the course to make sure more things like this happen! Give a read…
From our teacher, Mindy…
True story. So when I teach/dance and if I am wearing sweats that are too long (very common problem for me) I wear leg warmers and I tuck the bottom of my sweats into my leg warmers. So I was teaching for Hope Dances this evening and one of the parents approached me before class. She said that her daughter was getting ready for her after school program and had her sweats tucked into her socks, looking confused the mom looked at her daughter and asked her why she had done that, and the daughter replied “because that’s what Miss Mindy does!” So needless to say when she showed up for dance tonight she still had her sweats tucked in her socks. Just one of the many reasons I love what I do, these kids touch my life and my heart in more ways then they will ever know…..
Here is another one… I had sent one of the moms an email just checking in to see how her daughter was liking the classes. Here is her response…
Yes, she is enjoying class! She often practices the steps/sequences that Mindi and Sarah teach her. And she loves the free dance part they do at the end. I know I mentioned this before, but it as always been her dream to go to dance class and hopefully one day be on a stage. I love being able to help her achieve a dream and make her happy!
WINNING!!! Reading those stories, being a part of something so amazing, always gets me emotional!
I am wholly committed to making this program not only work and a success, but grow! We have a very unique model here and we are driven to bring this model to more communities! At this time, we have some plans we are working on to do just that! One of the things we are working on right now is our Dance for Dreams Gala. We are still in the process of building our roster of talented professionals who will be taking the stage, but I can share with you a little about last year! Last year, we had an AMAZING mix of talent! We had Rennie Harris RHAW, we had Say Dance Collective, Tap Team 2, Allie Parsons, Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet, Ballet Fleming, dancers from Pennsylvania & Boston Ballets, Trey McIntyre Project, Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance…
Here is a photo album from the show!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.231181483588785.62800.161520217221579&type=3
This year, we are changing up the roster so we can put on a different show. However, I can assure you it will be just as high quality and energetic as last years! We need your help to do this though! We need businesses, organizations, etc, to take out ads in our program. Our ad program starts as low as $62 for a 1/4 page ad! Also, if you are not a business, you can still make a personal donation! Below is our ad form. Please consider making a contribution, for hope…
Hope Dances Gala Ad Request 2012
Also, check out our kickstarter campaign!!!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1892241516/dance-for-dreams-dance-immersion
