"Honest & Genuine" - music to my ears

Last night a guest teacher came in to work with our Jazz III class. To be perfectly honest, bringing in a new teacher is a little nerve-wracking. This teacher has his undergrad from U of Alabama, danced in NYC, worked for Celebrity Cruise Lines, was faculty for the ABT summer intensives, and is now pursuing his master's degree in Dance at the University of Oregon. In other words, he knows his stuff. Which leads to the thoughts of, how are my dancers going to stack up? Is he going to walk in and expect to teach "those dancers" - you know, the ones who have their own agent by the age of ten and touch their toes to their nose while doing triple pirouettes. So I watch the class and I see my dancers working hard, listening intently, smiling at each other when things go well -- and when they don't go well. I see them crack a sideways grin when they crash in to each other trying a new move, then adjust and get it right the next time....and I think to myself, I wouldn't trade these dancers for anything! So after the class is over and the studio is quiet, I give the new teacher feedback on his sequences, the pace of the class, the overall material -- and then I ask him, what did he think? He says, "your girls are genuine and honest. They work hard and you can tell they love what they are doing. They are real. That's not often the case when I go in and teach."

Wow! What a great compliment. Not only do our dancers work their butts off, but they do it in a way that is "genuine and honest." I'll take that over the triple pirouette toes to the nose any day. So to all of my dancers, you should be proud of yourselves and your work, I know I am.