A History: Then and Now

Dance sort of fell in my lap. It started as a fun once a week lesson that I used to fulfill my social and exercise requirements with my best friend at the time.  What I hadn’t realized was how quickly I would fall in love with the art, and how fast my new friends would become my family. 

This is my 11th year dancing at ADC. I started dancing here when I was 6. This studio has become my second home. The winter after the fall classes began, I joined the first ever ballet that the studio put on.  It was then when I learned how much I loved ballet, and where I recognized dance would become more for me than my jazz class that met once a week.  I signed up for a private lesson and performed my very first solo shortly after.  The next year I entered the performance team and throughout the years that followed I made the best memories I have to date.  I grew confidence that was beyond my years, a sense of commitment, and an intense passion for dedication that I carry with me today.  I became a better person inside and out.  Dance became to me more than the steps.  It became engraved in my soul. 

Soon after I began dancing at Artistic Dance Conservatory, the studio became my second home.  It became the place I was most comfortable, the only place I wanted to be, and most of all the people became my family.  I credit my love and passion to pursue this art to the faculty and amazing facility that ADC has provided me.  We are all there for each other all the time. We attend competitions in hopes of building stronger bonds together. The staff and the students are always giving you the tools you need to grow as a dancer and even as a person. They will show you the correct way to execute steps and give helpful critiques to help your dancing grow. They always give the best opportunities for their students by suggesting workshops and summer programs. I am so happy that I am able to spend my time with all these inspirational people.

Today, I see dance and ADC as a shaping part of my past and an even more prevalent part of my future.  As I begin my college auditions and applications, I am enlightened to see how prepared ADC has made me.  As college approaches in the fall, and I begin my first semester as a BFA student, I will never forget what my family at the studio has taught me, and the artist it has turned me into.  I am forever grateful for Artistic Dance Conservatory and everyone there who has helped me shape my future.

-- by Natalie (’15) and Karly (’14)