-Oprah Winfrey
"When you Dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way."
-Dr. Wayne Dyer
"Generations…
Remember the past.
Create the present.
Inspire the future."
-Author Unknown
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| Here are a couple 3 generation dancer pics! I know I have many pics of my daughter and grand daughter and I together, but for some reason could not find many dance ones when searching today!!! These are both older ones… when Mariah was 4 and 5! |
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| Here are some mother daughter dance passion pics of Jana and me… a duo we did when Jana was 7 , A duo when she was 17… a staff pic from when she taught at my studio… and a photo from about 4 years ago when we adjudicated together at a dance festival in Kindersley, together. I've cherished the many stages of dance I have shared with Jana. |
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| Mariah got this special tutu leotard when her brother was born… How adorable was she here at age 4? |
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| ok… I couldn't stop on these ones… here she is dancing her heart out at her lessons in that blue tutu she loved so much! |
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| Today while searching for photos… I got so sidetracked and found millions of cute pics of my two grandkids along the way… these are just two of the many… Mariah is 3 here with the kissy lips! Beau is 2 here… and those big brown eyes get me every time I see him. Hard to believe these two are now 8 and 4… time sure flies when you are sharing the love! I do not seem to get as many photos of these two as I once did! |
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| Last week at the SPRING STARS DANCE FESTIVAL in the city… Mariah came and enjoyed watching my niece, ROWEN perform in her 4 group dances from BSOBAD. My friend, Gailene and I enjoyed watching together, as well... Gailene's daughters danced and now teach dance… and she has dancing grand daughters as well. My cousin Gwen came one day and watched with me … she also dances in an adult tap group . I did not get a selfie of Gwen and me!!! The adjudicators were both excellent…The top one, Chantelle Whitney, even danced at my studio a bit back in the day, and shared a place with my daughter, Jana in Japan when they both performed for Tokyo Disney. |
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| Today I took a little trip down memory lane when I looked through Jana's dance scrap books… Not only do they bring memories of her dancing… it brings back lots of my love from my "Diane Will Dance Studio" days… and all the kids I taught and called my kids as well! Below is an old token pic of my worn out tap shoes… So many memories and generations of tapping was shared in those shoes! |
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| Last week after positing my weekly blog on Monday… I realized it was NATIONAL PUPPY DAY, so for last week here is a picture of my puppy, SHUFFLE… who gets her name from the famous Tap Dance step! |
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| While we are doing a big trip down memory lane… here is an oldie goldie of me and my dad of when I was around 4 years old. Next week my dad would be turning 89 on the 8th of April. I will be blowing birthday kisses to him up above on that day. My dad instilled such a love of music which inspired my dancing. He was always so supportive and proud of not only me… but of his grand daughter, Jana, too. Too bad he was not alive to see the dance passion live on through the next generation, with his great grand daughter, Mariah! Here it is another Monday… and the day I like to write my weekly blog. Today I was off to a slower start as I searched for the perfect pictures to share for this theme. For some reason… the more I searched for photos… the more sidetracked I got… so I know there are many photos that would have suited this theme, but the ones I selected and found will share our passions for dance! Many of these photos have appeared in previous blog posts. Last week I spent 4 days of watching a local dance festival called SPRING STARS. It was run by my good friend Brenda and her sister, Debra. 13 dance studios from the province were invited to attend it. It was a fund raiser for "Choc'la Cure", which is an annual event to provide equiptment for cancer patients here in our province. The festival raised $30,000.00 in the 4 days. WOW… what a PASSIONATE ACHIEVEMENT! Their little slogan on the program said: "DANCE FOR A BRIGHTER TOMORROW" I am quite sure many tomorrows will be made brighter from this donation. It seems everyone knows someone battling cancer and/or who has lost a loved one fighting their battle of that horrible disease. This dance festival warmed my heart on many levels. It was so nice to sit in the audience and share the passion with many who also love dancing. When I taught dancing back in the day, I went through many years of sharing my passions with my students and watching them flourish on stage. Now it is nice to sit on the other side of the stage and just enjoy from a different perspective! My granddaughter joined me to watch my niece Rowen, along with hundreds of other dancers gracing the stage last week. Sitting with Mariah is another level of passion that we can share together, as we bond over out love of dance. I was very proud to be a part of an event such as this one. It definitely brought back that feeling of dance festival excitement for me. Next week my grand daughter will get a turn to dance on stage in a festival my studio attended for years… The North Battleford Dance Festival. She is now dancing with daughters of a couple dancers I once taught… so it is kind of fun to see this next generation dancing together. I just know I will be a proud grandma as I watch MARIAH strut her stuff! I still remember going to dance festivals and competitions back in my younger years. Things were so different back in the day I grew up in… but the passions were the same. I remember my mom and me travelling to the Moose Jaw Dance Festival by bus, as my mom didn't drive back then. I would sit for hours on end and enjoy watching dancers and felt inspired always when I left. I was a pretty average dancer for my age … but one thing I always had was PASSION … which I think is the biggest part. It is something that is hard to teach. I found watching other dancers created a huge impact on my life. I was grateful to my mom who helped nurture that passion in me from an early age. She was always my biggest cheerleader… and although she is no longer with me, I feel her spirit in my heart as I watch dance competitions and festivals to this day. She was also very proud of Jana and I know she would have loved to have watched Mariah perform, too! I remember the years of taking Jana to the various festivals and competitions she went to, as well. We have so many memories… and one of the many was making that "head to toe" list of costume items as we packed up to go to the various events we were involved in from festivals to recitals. I always liked to write out little good luck notes with stickers on them and leave them in her dance shoes so when she got ready… they were there for further encouragement for her performances! Now as I watch from the sidelines and audiences… I see steps, traditions and costumes being passed on through the generations. It does my heart proud as I watch many of the dancers I once taught , now teaching and or performing themselves. I can only hope I have made an impact on their journey, too. I know through the many generations we all share passions and spirit which... whether we realize it or not seems to pass along from one generation to the next in some way or another. I have met so many friends through my passion of dance. It is amazing how the friends we make through our dance journey stay with us forever and when we reconnect, we are always happy to see each other again! Because this is such an exciting time of the dance season for all dance studios, I can almost feel their enthusiasm as I look on. I have such fond memories of the days I have spent at dance festivals… and hope to watch many more to come. I can see by the posts and photos on Facebook that there have been very many dance festivals and competitions lately, and so many people sharing their enthusiasm and passions for dance, too. In the end it is all about the memories after all… so here's to many more… Keep on Tapping into Your Dance Passions and sharing them with generations to come. Tonight I will look forward to "Dancing With the Stars" on TV. I am on such a "dance high" now after last week, so I'm sure I will really enjoy the show tonight! I am always inspired with the dance passions and choreography shared on that show as well. I hope all my blog readers TAP into a Happy Easter this coming weekend. Today I wish my twin cousins from the states, DAWN and GREG a Happy 60th Birthday and their brother Bob will also celebrate a birthday on the 2nd of April. On that note… here is my poem of the day! In dance it is always really in fashion, To share your heart and dance with passion. Strut your stuff with all of your heart, Right from the get go… right from the start! Share the love and then pass it along, The passion for dance has no right or wrong. The steps are all different, but the concept's the same, The steps all have history to go with their name. Dancing from generation to another generation, Just sharing the love and so much dedication. Memories of fun and costumes on parade, Remembering each impact that they all made. It's just so much fun when we get the chance, To share our love and passion for dance! |
Love your blog....warms my heart!
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