The Gift That Keeps On Giving
With the Christmas season upon us, it is only fitting that we take time to reflect on the gifts we have been blessed with. I'm not talking about a new DVD player or digital camera, but rather the gifts we sometimes take for granted because we receive them almost on a daily basis. If you or your child is dancing today, it is because somewhere down the line, someone gave that gift to you. They may not even be aware of what they have done. Perhaps now is the time to let them know how much this gift means to you.
My daughter Adrienne got her humble beginning in dance quite by accident. It seems that a neighborhood child was not happy in the studio and decided to opt for an equestrian lifestyle instead. Her mom came to our door one day with a dance bag, leotard, ballet shoes and a phone number in hand. She suggested that Adrienne might want to add ballet to her pre-school schedule, so I enrolled her in Kinderdance. Her first day of dance class, she couldn't wait to get into her new leotard. It was a vintage 1985 copy of the leotard that Mary Lou Retton wore when she won her gymnastics all-around gold medal.
That initial gift of dance was given to Adrienne by an unassuming neighbor, who will never know how her hand-me-downs altered daughter's future. She moved from our neighborhood two years after Adrienne started dance and we lost touch. Adrienne, however, continued to thrive in class with Miss Susan, and eventually decided to forego a career in baseball to dedicate her Friday nights to competition group practice.
By the age of six and a half, she was funneled into a class of her peers where the teacher was basically a child herself. Only ten years separated Adrienne from her new teacher! I suppose it could have been a problem, but instead, it was the beginning of a relationship that has grown for the past fifteen years. Cher, (yes, it is her real name) was energetic, ambitious, demanding, sometimes crazy, but always loving with my girls. She was also inspirational. Their chemistry was unbelievable. It was a remarkable relationship of the blind leading the blind as we plodded through everything on a wing and a prayer. We all grew up together.
The girls lived for their solo lessons. When Ashley was 4, she would hang onto Cher's leg while she was trying to teach Adrienne. When it was her turn to dance, she wouldn't move until Cher said, "5,6,7,8." No lesson was ever too long because it wasn't work for them, it was just fun. It was amazing, yet totally unconventional. When the girls were small, they danced in the basement which was also their playroom. Occasionally, when the girls couldn't get something right, they might get beaned by a flying plastic pork chop or piece of Styrofoam pizza. It would depend on what was handy in the play refrigerator for Cher to throw in frustration. I have them on videotape dodging play food while they attempted to dance. Now I wouldn't necessarily recommend this method in a studio........but my girls thought it was great! No wonder they never got bored.
For a young teacher, I always marveled at Cher's gift for choreography. She would hallucinate a new move and the girls would try it without question. I remember one night when we were downstairs working on costumes and she had a vision. She really wanted to wake up one of the girls up to try it so she wouldn't forget by their next lesson. I wouldn't do it. We might have been crazy in those days, but not that crazy!
For about ten years, she worked with them privately and did most of their choreography. We did enough competitions and took enough trips to fill a healthy scrapbook. The girls went from "Splish Splash" and "Yankee Doodle" to contemporary pieces that have taken them throughout the United States and abroad. Adrienne and Ashley's signature piece, "Via Dolorosa," is a combination of Cher's choreography as well as their own. It is somehow fitting that this piece has been so remarkably well received. It has captivated audiences at International Ballet Competitions in Varna, Bulgaria and Jackson, Mississippi, and moved audiences in Montreal, Canada at "Gala des Etoile," in Vail, Colorado, and at the International Children's Festival at Wolftrap.
I can honestly say that all of those years have given us so many cherished memories. As a teacher and a friend, Cher gave my girls an incredible gift that they are now passing on to students of their own. Her influence helped them to grow not only as dancers, but as young women of character as well. On her wedding day, Adrienne, Ashley and Rasta Thomas danced at her wedding. Adrienne and Rasta performed the first duo she ever choreographed for them, "A Whole New World." Ashley did her first lyrical solo, "If We Hold On Together." It was like seeing the past in the present. What a fitting tribute to our years as friends.
Since the time they started in dance, Adrienne and Ashley have had many teachers who have touched their hearts - teachers who genuinely cared not just about dance, but about them. In this season of giving, it is a wonderful time to remember those who have impacted our lives in a positive way. Cher is just one of those people, but one who will forever be a part of our lives. She did what that a teacher is meant to do. She inspired them.....she gave them her time.....and she gave them wings. •