 SUMMER SHOWCASE 2008
Magic Moments that will Last a Lifetime
by Mylie Arnold
I stood on the dance floor with all of the performers after our Summer Showcase on June 8th… memories of the more than 20 showcases I have participated in over the past 12 years came flooding over me. I remember my own routines that I performed with professional partners and with my students, the hard work that went into each and every one of them, and the fun of finding the perfect costume to bring out the character of the dance.
My strongest memories are of the routines that involved students, and in particular the students who were terrified when they signed up to perform in the show and yet somehow gathered the courage to venture into the unknown anyway. Their faces as they walked off the floor and the applause of the audience are imprinted in my memory forever, and I know that the experience changed their lives forever.
I haven’t danced very much in the past several years— the combination of a back injury and needing to focus more on the business has kept me off the floor for a while. It’s funny, but I don’t really feel like a professional dancer anymore. I teach a few classes now and again, but my days are no longer filled with 8-10 hours of teaching and practicing, and I now spend far more time on a computer than I do on the dance floor.
As the memories poured over me I promised myself that I would be dancing in the next showcase. I don’t know what dance I will do, and I don’t know who I will be dancing with, but on December 14th at the end of the showcase, I will be standing on the floor not just with the performers, but as one of the performers myself. I hope you will be standing right next to me, flush from performing and with the audience's applause ringing in your ears. It is one of the best feelings in the world!
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