The moment I walked into Rhythm Dance Studio, I had a good feeling… I saw a couple dancing on the floor and two ladies standing behind the bar, Belinda, and Charis. Charis immediately introduced herself to my mom and me. I asked her how I’d go about starting lessons and she suggested that I visited a social and join the group class to see if I’d enjoy the dancing and I remember saying, “That sounds like fun but I would like to start dance lessons straight away.” Charis just laughed (if you know her, you would agree that she has the best laugh) and handed me a flyer with all their details on and I left, but I would be back.
I will never forget the call the next day. I spoke to a gentleman named John, who sounded so happy to chat to me, and after I had booked my lesson slot, he says, “OK, love you, bye bye!” I couldn’t stop laughing. I was so excited!
A few years after, I made a hard decision to stop dancing for a while because of reasons I’d rather not say, but I missed it so much. It was like I was missing a part of what made me who I was. One day, Mishelle and I attended a dance competition to watch our friends compete, and the most surreal thing happened… Rene and Ali were dancing the Viennese Waltz, with such elegance I should add, and as they came towards me, Ali turned Rene into a check and she looked straight at me, smiled and winked. I was immediately taken back to that moment when I was seven years old, standing in that beautiful dance studio. It was like the universe was nudging, and asking me, “would you like to dance?” I looked at Mishelle and said to her, “We need to get back into dancing!” Ali was of course over the moon to hear that two of his students were coming back.
Ali Anderson was my first dance instructor and still is, to this day, ten years later. He has his own dance studio called Ritmo La Vida. I love the people at Ritmo, it is my family away from home. We make a great team! From helping with hair to screaming for each other at the competitions, we really have a great support structure and we get very excited when our family grows…
My passion for dance keeps growing and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
I hope that my story has sparked your own passion for dance. I would love to know about how your dance journey began, please share your story below.
Great times! And reading took me right back. It’s students like you that make it all worth it!!!
Ah thanks, Chazy, there were so many awesome times we had.