The ripple effect of dance in a small town

As a dance school owner in a small town, population less than 4,000-- in rural Wisconsin I have a very typical dance program. Over the past 10 years I've had the privalage to share my love of dance with more than 200 students each week. Well, last weekend our local high school hosted a Show Choir Invitational with high school show choir teams from all around the state. As I sat there watching I realized what an impact my program has had on the kids in our town. You see some of my first dancers are now in high school - so it was really cool for me.

All of the choreography for the Middle School and first level High School choirs was created by 3 of my dancers. High school students themselves, two of the girls are or have been assistant teachers and the third was a long time student. Those three girls took what I taught them and shared it with 50 more kids. And they did great!

Then, when I looked at the front rows of both these choirs I see them filled with my dancers too. Some past, some present, but all students we've touched in someway through our dance academy.
It was proud moment.

I know many dance school owners struggle with keeping the high school age kids in their programs, we do too. There's so much competition for their time. But now I see how those first foundational years in dance can impact a high school in both their show choirs and other extra curricular events. So, I'm ok with letting these kids fly away from a weekly dance class to strut their stuff in school plays, musicals, sports and show choir. The confidence, poise and technical abilities we gave them will last a lifetime. And right now, high school is the most important part of their world. I'm grateful that they are using all their talents to represent their school and make our community proud.