Celebrating Dance Day with Dance Memories

Dance was my girls’ sport. 

They couldn’t catch a baseball if someone dropped it in their hands (oops!, mitt). But dance was their world from about age six to adulthood. 

It taught them how to move with grace (except during those awkward tween years when they would break toes walking through doorways!), understand music composition, and put it all together through choreography.

Dance was instrumental in building their confidence and appreciation for the arts.

Benjamin Holck (aka Ben Jammin) introduced musical theater to my daughters and all of the students at Merit Academy. They sang and danced to CATS and Magic of Broadway:

Ruth Fisher (Dancenter) provided my girls their first formal dance instruction where they explored jazz, tap, and hip hop, and made great friends:

Jeni Sudbrink Evers (Musical Theater Choreographer) and Suzanne Hobbs (Musical Theater Voice Instructor) brought out their excitement for performance in Magic of Broadway II, It’s Gotta Be Rock ‘n Roll Music, and Best of Rock ‘n Roll Music: 1955-1975:

Athena Harrah Knight (No Limits) launched Nicole’s and Jaclyn’s passion for dance when they joined No Limits’ competition dance teams. They danced with incredible dancers under the direction of amazing choreographers: Athena Harrah Knight (now Aptos Academy of Performing Arts), Tisha Nusbaum (now Pacific Arts Complex), Ali Stapleton Lambrecht (now Coastal Vibe), and the late Carrie McCoid:

Nicole went on to dance with the Stanford Dollies (2004-2005), where she had her best dance experiences to date and made best friends:

And dance training wouldn’t be complete without ballet, and Nicole and Jaclyn received excellent training with Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher at The Studio, School of Classical Ballet.

Jaclyn founded the 5 C Dance Company at Claremont McKenna College where she was the Artistic Director and Choreographer for 4 years. She continues to be best friends with Kelsey Schmidt (Assistant Director) and Lauren James (Sound and Music Director):

Jaclyn taught dance and choreographed numbers for Dance Design‘s competition dancers in Pennsylvania. She also performed solos at the recitals at the end of the year:

Jaclyn danced with Tabitha Robinson-Scott’s Monarch Dance Company in Pennsylvania for 2 years:

Thank you to all of the amazing people who brought dance to my girls’ lives!