It’s been four years, but I’m home.

I started training with Jenn and Becca the year ADC opened. I was 12 - braces and glasses clad, silent and unsure. What I did know was that nothing made me feel the way dancing did. For 6 years I was fortunate to study at ADC, absorbing a wealth of technical knowledge, nearly hours of choreography, and the foundations of artistry and performance. Through my high school years, ADC was my home. I liked to call it my “part time job”. It was the only place that I felt I could really just be. I know I’m tending towards the mushy here, but it’s true! I’m sure many of us can relate to the sentiment that high school wasn’t always the bee’s knees. But, at the end of my senior year, it was no longer a question – I was going to dance for the rest of my life.

Jenn suggested Connecticut College one Saturday afternoon during a private lesson. Thinking back, this small gesture means everything. It means she knew me more deeply than most at that point in my life. And man, it’s a good thing she proposed thatalliteration on that day. I practically began filling out the application supplement on my way home from my first visit to Conn. I couldn’t be happier or more grateful for the array of training I’ve received so far between ADC, Connecticut College, Dance New Amsterdam and Bates Dance Festival. Daily, I’m thankful for my foundation. Who knows where my path would have led had I not stopped by “that new studio next to Arnold’s Meats” 10 years ago.

Spending my first post-grad year at my “high school home” is perfect. Teaching and performing is what I adore, and I’m lucky enough to do both at a place I love. I just can’t say enough about ADC, its faculty, and its facility. Being on the other side, facing the students, glasses and braces clad, is just where I want to be.

--Amy

Welcome to the first ever ADC blog. We are working on our 11th year here at Artistic Dance Conservatory and still going strong. It has been a wonderful ten years at ADC and the school has been blessed with an amazing staff that gives their hearts to dance, a school that has had immense growth, and support from the dancers and dance enthusiasts. 

I am Jennifer Gamache-Dubilo, the president of ADC and I began dancing at age two. Flash forward to many years later and dance was very important to me. It kept me active, it introduced me to lifelong friends, it allowed me feel everything and express it on the dance floor. I think it was and will forever be cathartic for me. As I exited those teen years I found that when I choreographed I was able to create that same feeling and freedom for others. 

When I taught others to dance I saw a light that I knew would always be there to lead them in whatever life brought their way. That beacon of light was a bundle of things like discipline, health and wellness, friendship, exposure to social issues, charity, empathy, and confidence. This drove me to start ADC. 

But enough about me, I decided to start this blog so that everyone could see and feel and hear how passionate we at ADC are about dance. Our hope is to share ideas, videos, and thoughts about movement, health and wellness, dance, and more. In addition we want you to hear, and see, and feel some the things our dancers learn in class. My wish is that you, our blog audience, will be as passionate about Artistic Dance Conservatory and dance as we are.