Welcome to the 2020 DDA recital....DDA on Broadway!
This is our 8th annual recital, and although it looks very, very different this year - we are here dancing and doing what we love. That is what truly matters.
I am so incredibly proud that we were able to pull this off and give our students this celebration. I was determined to make this happen. I could not stand the thought of our dancers and teachers months of hard work being tossed out the window....that was not an option for me. I promised that our dancers would have a recital - someway, somehow - and here we are. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for believing in my vision.
This year we are not sitting in a big high school auditorium for three sold out shows of 850 attendees each with hundreds of dancers. We are in a parking lot, dancing on a rented stage, and facing the doors to the place we call home....our studio. We are dancing for only you - the parents. How cool and special is that?
It's not about where you're dancing, who is there, the fancy lighting, the decor, the big finale, the hustle and bustle backstage, the big dress rehearsal....what matters in this moment is that we persevered through the biggest challenge we have ever faced. And are still facing today. This has taught us to appreciate what matters most; the gift of dance and being able to express our emotions through our movement.
On March 13th, we were forced to close our doors. We did not officially open them again until June 22. Like many of you, this was personally the most challenging time of my life. But, after the first few weeks I realized something. I realized how grateful I was to have this virtual studio to run. I kept thinking what would I be doing with my time otherwise? And how would I possibly handle not still getting to "see" our students every day. And what a gift it was to be able to provide something to students while they were quarantined at home. I realized how grateful I was to be in an industry that could continue to provide to children virtually.
During those three months, we held over 2,000 classes virtually between our regular classes and bonus classes. Some days we laughed til we cried, and some days we just cried. Some days we struggled to find the motivation to sign on, and some days we dreaded signing off because we didn't want to say goodbye. But what remained constant was that we had each other. And we had dance. We don't grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges.
You may often hear people say dancers learn many life skills in dance, far beyond "the steps." This year was proof of that. I would often think about WHY dancing virtually worked so well and WHY our kids adjusted to it so well. That is because through dance, children learn:
The value of hard work; determination; perseverence; teamwork; never give up attitude; adaptability; and even organization :)
I hope you can soak in every second of these small, inimate shows with your dancer and celebrate their resilience. Thank YOU for giving your child the gift of dance and allowing them to continue to dance virtually with us for three months. Thank you for your continued support of the arts, and the encouragement you have shown to myself and our entire staff the last three months
The show must go on.
Jenny O'Brien
Owner/Director of DDA
