This may seem like a random post, but I have recently learned that no one who has made an impact on someones life should go without recognition. We can't get through life without help from others.
We all know that there are people in our lives that teach us valuable lessons. They help us learn and grow, they encourage our strengths and help us through our weaknesses. In ballet my life was filled with these people. People who taught me how to use what I have learned to go far in my career. I recently have been feeling that I want these people to know what they meant to me and thank them. Anyone who makes a difference in someones life should be made aware of the fact that they had an impact.
I want to start with the woman who was there teaching me how to point, skip, and who was there teaching me how to dance on my toes. Miss McCloud- loud and beautiful. No tolerance for laziness, taking every opportunity to encourage and laugh with her students. She is the type of teachers who deserves to have her efforts rewarded, pouring into her students the knowledge she has gained over the years. I only hope that I did justice to that knowledge.
Jenny- Though she wasn't my teacher often, I never forgot the one thing she stressed... To perfect the simple things. That going back to the basics is often more challenging then learning new tricks. For such a soft and gentle woman she left quite a mark on my approach to ballet.
Mr. Karl. He taught that not only does Ballet require strength and hard work, but also discipline and respect. Although I may have had witty comebacks for him at times, I never lost my respect. He taught his students not to let failure hinder our drive. That there really was no such thing as failure, just an opportunity to improve. Even though I dreaded his petite allegro on Saturday mornings, i never got tired of his determination never to let up on me.
Mireille- The teacher who was probably with my the longest though my higher levels. She was also there encouraging me through my lows. The type of teacher who never gave up on her students, even though they often gave her grief. She was the type of teacher that you worked your butt off for. Because knowing that she was proud of you was somehow a satisfying triumph. Even when she was frustrated with her students, I knew that she still wanted to see them succeed. Though often times she watched in silence, you knew it was because at the end of the music, she had many things to show, and to teach.
Miss Goodman- Though I only got to be under her teaching for a year, I learned more than I thought I still needed to learn. Another teacher who knew how important the basics were. Who knew what it looked like to see her students low, and who knew what to say to raise them high. I not only speak for myself, but my beautiful friend Rika when I say that Miss Goodman made success a thing around the corner. She pushed for us to be better than our greatest, and that there was somewhere that we belonged. Encouraging us not to be defeated, and that she wouldn't let us give up. And she didn't I have so much appreciation for this woman and I hope she knows how much her words meant to me.
I know that this is probably the corniest thing you will read this week. But all of these people have made an impact on my life. And even though the lessons they taught me may have taken place in the studio... I have carried them with me into the world and I want them to know, the lessons they teach never stop teaching. Thank you, so much.
