RELAY 4 LIFE 2014

     Last weekend was Relay for Life in St. Cloud, Florida. I had signed up to be apart of this cause a while back and the kids were so excited to be performing on stage for a great cause. We had 14 numbers performing and I had been working them extremely hard in class because I wanted them to look flawless. When we got there I walked over to the stage and said, "Where's the rest of it ?". There was no way these dancers were going to fit on that tiny little stage, I was pissed. Then I realized, we are not here to compete, we are not here to be judged, we are not here to look flawless. We are here to fight cancer. We are here to lift spirits of those who need it. We are here to pass on the love of dance to anyone who is open to it and we are here to show we care in the best way we know how. 

    Regardless of the stage being 2 ft X 2 ft my kids looked amazing, they had fun and as always blew the crowd away.                                                                  

  

 

The kids had a great time and some of them even stayed with me for the full 20 hours straight ! They are a bunch of crazies but I love them !

            During this past week in classes we went over what "went on" on stage.  One of the strongest dances we have is a Hip Hop number entitled, "JDC STYLE". Since there is no turns or anything the kids asked to dance on the grass so they would have more room. We pushed back the crowd and they performed in 100 degree weather on that grass like they've done it a million times. They had that crowd going like no other and they did a fantastic job. Waiting on the sidelines was another studio getting ready to perform. What made me so mad was we were all there for the same reason at this moment in time. I explained to my students there will be other studios there, this is not a competition, you clap for everyone, you tell everyone Good Job and I don't want to see any negativity. This event was not the time or place for it. As my kids exited the "stage" (grass) not ONE person from that other studio clapped, said good job or even smiled. They sat there with their arms crossed along with their teacher with negative energy oozing from their bodies. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR KIDS ?! My older ones who noticed this negative, unnecessary behavior asked, " Why didn't they clap for us?, Why were they sitting there with their arms folded? "  BAD SPORTSMANSHIP is not something I will teach my kids. No matter what that other persons performance looked like, you clap and say good job !  . . . I wanted to give my kids the right answer to their questions so I said the first thing that popped in my head, " They were too busy picking their jaws up from the floor."