In my freshman year of high school, I was dancing and competing full time at my home studio Raskin Dance Studio. At the time, I was not expecting to get asked to help out with an entire 3rd grade class for a dance they would perform at chapel and church services. However, when my former elementary teacher asked me to come help, I said yes and jumped right in! Now, mind you when we started working together, the class had chosen the song NY2LA by Press Play. They had already choreographed ninety percent of this dance and only wanted help with just a small portion of it! When the class performed, they did an amazing job! After their performance, I thought it would be the last time I would work with them. However, I was very wrong and to this day, I'm glad it wasn't the last time. I'll explain why!
Shortly after their performance for chapel and church, the school competition FLOCS, Florida League of Christian Schools held at Southeastern University was coming up. Once again, their teacher and now the principal had approached me about having a small group go to the competition to represent the school. At the beginning, we were all somewhat skeptical because none of the 8 kids that were chosen had ever performed a Hip Hop dance or competed at a competition! However, these kids weren't ordinary kids. They had something special. These kids had a passion for dancing that I had only seen in friends of mine and myself that had been dancing for years!
We began working together and at the first practice I remember we had a discussion that this wasn't going to be super easy and they needed to be alert in practice. Something I will never forget is the look on their faces, they were full of excitement, nerves, and passion for what was to come! They promised me they were ready to work and work hard! Even though they were only 8 and 9 years old, they had begun inspiring me as a choreographer! My biggest fear was choreographing a Hip Hop dance. But, with these amazing kids and the passion they had, I knew nothing was impossible!
They gave me a challenge to give them a dance that would be fun for everyone! During the upcoming practices, they started asking for harder choreography! Which was amazing and even more inspiring! They were ready to work harder than they had originally set out to, because they had the passion for it! On March 5, 2011 they went to their first competition and blew everyone away! These 8 kids went on stage and performed with such a passion and love for dance and God that it truly touched everyone in the room! Not only did they win in my eyes because of such passion and bravery, but they walked away with the First Place Overall trophy and blue ribbons for the Urban Dance Troupe at the FLOCS Competition! That is the day I saw 8 kids with such potential, passion, and love for dance! To this day, at least 5 of them are still dancing and following their passion! I had the honor of being able to teach them during their 4th and 5th grade years as well! Even though our group got smaller over the years, we continued to represent the school and named them the MK Crew and they walked away with 3 consecutive first place trophies and blue ribbons each year we worked together! Each year, the choreography got harder but their passion grew stronger!
They inspired me to create better dances, be a better teacher, and showed me how to love dance even more! I am forever grateful that they started my career as a choreographer and teacher because without their help, I would not be where I am today!
To my first group of kids, I love you guys and will always be grateful to you for helping me realize my dream of teaching and choreographing! I can't wait to continue watching you all grow into beautiful young women and handsome young men!
Stay tuned to read Teaching: Students That Inspire You (Part 2) to learn about what it's been like teaching soloists!
No comments:
Post a Comment