"This Year's Love"

Well, it has almost been a week since our Recitals and I think I have really now had a chance to reflect on how truly successful they were. This isn't a brag blog today... well maybe a little. But I do put on one heck of a professional show for a studio!

Of course in the days following our shows I get tons of messages congratulating me, thanking me, and basically a whole lot of stroking my ego emails! However, I seem to get the same comments annually about wanting to see me dance in the show?!?!?!

This year for my Competitive/Teen Show I decided to hire some professional dancers to guest perform to help ease the need of the staff performing! In fact, one of my younger staff actually was one of the soloists, which was fantastic, but I guess that prompted everyone to think that I would be making some special appearance next... not going to happen!

I don't know how studio directors or anybody running Recitals can find time during a busy show to even worry about performing themselves. I'm concerned about the class on stage, pinning in the tiara of the next little class, cuing the lighting change and making sure everyone is in sync. I'm not saying that the show would fall apart without me for two and half minutes, but it's not something I want to add to my plate of things to do that day.

To be honest, I don't want to take the focus off of the kids by performing myself or having other people steal the spotlight. In our Recreational Recital this year I even had very few performances by our Competitive students. It's supposed to be a time where those respective parents can celebrate their child's accomplishments and enjoy them performing. Sure, I can do more pirouettes than a 10 year old, but does that really matter! I want the kids to feel like the stars, and I really don't need that self satisfaction anymore. I actually get more excited seeing the psyche screen change in exact unison with the music cue now!

I do realize that the parents at my studio wouldn't be judging me as a dancer if I did perform. It's not like they're going to tell me I was horrible! I even understand their curiosity and desire to see the staff perform... but I'm quick to remind them that I'm a teacher now. I teach their kids how to dance, so they can perform well on stage. It's a totally different state of mind, and one that has taken me a long time to embrace. For a lot of teachers/studio owners it might be the only time of year they ever get to perform, and I can understand that itch. However, I think I'm proud to say now that I have students who are exceptional enough dancers that no one is wondering how good I am. They know how good of a teacher I am, based on what they see on stage, and that's enough for me!

I feel really fulfilled about the shows that I put on this year, and now I have to start planning next year's show already! Maybe if I started practising now I'll be in good enough shape to dance next year... but don't count on it!