Last summer, I knew this was going to be a great dance season. It was our 10th year, I had an excellent staff in place, a ton of talent in our competition programs, lots of new students, wonderful families, a fun and glamorous recital theme and a fantastic new venue for our recital. What could go wrong?
But life has a funny way of surprising you and bringing you life lessons and opportunities for change when you least expect it. And in true dramatic Hollywood fashion on the second day of classes at 4:30 p.m. I received a phone call telling me that the routine test I had that morning was suspicious and that they were 95% sure I had breast cancer. The person who called couldn’t tell me much but said that the suspicious area was extensive. As you can imagine I was shocked. No family history, no risk factors, and I was only 38 years old.
One thing that I have always said though is that BSoD is a family and that has never proven to be more true than this year. The support of everyone at the studio was overwhelming. I received gifts, food, prayer cards and my dancers provided me with more handmade crafts than you can imagine, which I always treasure. BSoD has proven once again that is a community and everyone here looks out for each other…not just the students, but the families as well.
So, because we all help each other, I feel it’s only fair I share the lesson cancer taught me with each of you. I read recently that things don’t happen to you, they happen for you, and in my case I definitely think this is true.
Historically, and as anyone here who is friends with me on social media can tell you, I have kept myself very busy. When you fill your life with so many responsibilities, you spend all your time thinking of what you need to be doing rather than enjoying what you already are doing, and I bet most of us are guilty of that. I always thought that I fully appreciated my life. I constantly thought about how lucky I was, but I didn’t realize that I wasn’t truly appreciating the moments in front of me.
A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in the floor of Ms. Molly’s combo class watching the girls do their dance. I’ve been teaching combo a long time, and my general rule of thumb with dancers that young is that if they are dancing 80% of the dance, they are doing phenomenal. Part of the joy in watching the little ones is seeing them actually be little ones. Everything isn’t perfect. They are learning how to stay focused and follow direction and have fun dancing at the same time, and it’s a learning process. Well, as I was sitting in the floor watching, one of the little girls stopped dancing, turned around in a circle to add her own moves to the dance and then looked at me and gave me the most beautiful smile. And it just hit me at that moment. THIS is what life is all about. It’s not about rushing to meetings or appointments, checking social media, worrying about what you need to be doing next. It’s about those moments that are so simple and that we overlook every day. Something as simple as a child being herself in dance class and looking to see if I was watching her and liked her dance.
So I hope tonight I can share my lesson with you, and that you can learn to appreciate the beautiful moments in life as they happen, without having something like cancer come and teach you that lesson instead. On tonight’s stage, we will have dancers ages 2 and up. For some, it’s their first performance, for others they have had more than 100. You will see lots of different experience levels, skill levels, and abilities. Some have trained focus and some aren’t there yet. Some have excellent balance and some are just perfecting how to hop on two feet. Some of these children are yours and most of them are not. The one thing they all have in common is that they have all worked hard this year and have all earned the right to be Stars on our stage tonight.
This is a big moment for our dancers. They have worked for 10 months to get here. And while recital is a hassle for parents worrying about dress rehearsal, costumes, tights, hair, makeup, shoes, pictures and the rest, it is all worth it because it’s creating an exciting opportunity for our students to gain the recognition they deserve for all their hard work. And all of us here are in this together creating this memory for them…and for us. So this is one of those beautiful life moments amplified. Instead of one little smiling face, you will see dozens…all working hard, all hoping you notice how good they are dancing. So I hope that for the next two hours you will try and focus on the beauty that is on our stage. And I hope that when you leave here tonight, you will have really enjoyed the show and I hope our dancers have fun and feel appreciated for their hard work.
So in looking back, I was right about some things. I did have a an excellent staff in place, a ton of talent in our competition programs, lots of new students, wonderful families, a fun and glamorous recital theme and a fantastic new venue for our recital. But it wasn’t the great year I hoped for. It was an amazing year!