Building Great Humans

Every season, I choose a word that drives me. A word that somehow seems to capture where I am, where CSDA is, and where I hope we are going.

Over the years, there have been words like GROW, RISE and JOY. Last season, it was HOME. Each one has meant something different to me depending on the season and time we were in.

This season, my word is BUILD.

Build up our dancers. Build our programs. Build our culture. Build up our community. And most importantly, continue building great humans.

Maybe that is why it has been so meaningful that so much of my work outside of our walls lately has also been about what we have already built here.

This summer, while traveling and presenting to other dance educators, I had the opportunity to teach about how we built our Leadership Program. Now, as I write this, I am back on the road presenting again, this time teaching others about how we built our Outreach Program.

Both fall under our Center Stage Outreach umbrella, and many of the same dancers who are learning to lead are also the ones out in our community performing, serving and giving back.

As I prepared for both presentations, I realized just how connected all of these pieces really are and at the heart of everything is the same purpose.

Building great humans.

Of course, we are a dance studio. We want to build strong dancers. We want our students to learn proper technique, become stronger, grow in confidence, develop as artists and experience the joy of learning and performing.

But after more than 35 years of teaching, I know the steps and choreography are only part of what we are teaching. We are teaching and building so much more.

We’re Building Confidence

Confidence doesn’t always mean being the dancer in the front row who knows every step. Sometimes it’s the preschooler who finally walks into class without clinging onto a parent. It’s the dancer who tries again after getting something wrong. It’s raising a hand and asking a question, it’s getting on the stage when your stomach is full of butterflies, or simply learning to be comfortable just being yourself. All of those little moments add up.

We’re Building Resilience

Dance can be hard. You don’t always get the step the first time. You receive corrections. Someone else in the class may be getting it before you. Sometimes you work on the same skill over and over before it finally clicks.

Our dancers learn that struggling with something doesn’t mean they can’t do it. We never let our dancers say “I can’t” we say “we’re not there, yet”.

Learning to listen, adjust, try again and keep going is a skill that reaches far beyond the studio.

We’re Building Leaders

One of the things I love most about our Leadership Program is teaching our dancers that leadership isn’t about being the best dancer in the room. It’s about how you show up.

It’s helping a younger dancer who looks nervous. It’s working hard when no one is watching. It’s accepting corrections, encouraging others, being dependable and understanding that your attitude affects the people around you.

Sometimes the most important leadership moments happen when the kids don’t even realize anyone is watching.

We’re Building a Heart for Giving Back

Our Outreach Program teaches our dancers that their gifts can be used for something bigger than themselves.

Yes, they perform throughout our community, but Outreach has never been just about performing. It’s about service, giving back and realizing that everyone at any age, can make a difference.

Giving back isn’t something that belongs to the Outreach Team. It’s part of who we are as a studio. Throughout the season, our entire Center Stage family will have opportunities to give back and support others in the community that we call home.

And Yes…We’re Building Dancers!

October is when the season starts to settle and the real work begins.

We’re building strength, technique, musicality, work ethic, and at the same time we’re building friendships and confidence.

This doesn’t happen overnight.

It took time to build our Leadership program.

It took time to build our Outreach Team to where it is today.

It took time to build our studio culture.

It takes time to build great dancers. It takes time to build great humans.

The longer I teach, the more I know that dance lessons are life lessons.

Years from now, our dancers may not remember every step we taught them or every costume they wore. But I hope they remember what they learned about themselves while they were here.

I hope they learned they can do hard things. I hope they learned how to lead, how to be a good teammate, friend, how to make mistakes and grow, how to be kind, and how to use their gifts to make a difference in the world and give back.

So yes, we’re building dancers. But we’re also building confident, resilient, leaders and a beautiful community.

But, most important, we’re building great humans.

Miss Tiffany