Recital

Hello everyone!

Tonight I performed the dance that I will be doing at Miss New York at Susan Sanford's School of Dance's recital. It was the 20 Years of Memories recital. It is hard to believe that Sue has been running the studio for 20 years already. That means that I have been dancing with Sue 17 of the 20 years she has owned the business. That right there makes me feel old!

It was a beautiful show. All of the performers did an amazing job and it was nice for me to sit back and remember what it was like rushing around backstage during the many quick costume changes. At least I only had one dance to perform this year!

As I mentioned, I have been dancing with Sue for 17 years. I started dancing at her studio when I was 4 years old. Throughout the years with her, I studied ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, clogging, and acrobatics. I have learned so much from her about dancing and about life in general. She has always been a role model for me, and that continues after these many years. She is an amazing person, and one of the kindest you will ever meet. She is incredibly knowledgable in dance and taught me excellent technique. After I graduated and took some dance classes at Elmira College, my instructor there complimented me on how technically trained I was. I credit all of this to Sue.

The years that I danced with her were amazing, and she was the one that truly made dancing a passion of mine. She told us about how when she was younger, she would use dance as a release. Through the years, I have learned to do the same. Nothing is better than going into the studio and just dancing out any emotion I may be feeling at that time. Though I typically never remember the dances I create during those moments, they are the purest dances I have ever done because they are my emotions being completely expressed.

Dance also helped me after I had to have back surgery. It was not known whether I would be able to dance to the same extent that I had before the surgery. I was determined to be just as good as I had been, and so was Sue. She worked with me and never expected anything less of me just because I had had my surgery. She pushed me to be the best that I could be, and I thank her for that. I could never imagine my life without dance in it.

I know I have rambled a bit in this, but it is nice to go down memory lane for a little while. All in all, I had a great time tonight and I am glad that I could help Sue in celebrating 20 amazing years with the studio.