Thank You! This is the special time of year where we get to say thank you to so many people. First, we want to thank our Savior Jesus Christ for the opportunity to start something for Him ..stepping out in faith to join Him on a mission that is so much bigger than any single one of us. To the students, thank you for showing up. There is something about a dancer who can focus on what we ask you to do and then do it. In the classroom, we’ve watched you get better and we hope you’ve had some fun along the way. On the side of the stage, the mentality is “don’t think .just do”. Thinking is the biggest mistake a dancer can do. You have to feel. When a dancer trusts his or her instincts to do what they’ve practiced over and over, amazing things happen. Our instructors set the bar very high, but none of what they expect is impossible. They expect students to show up, work hard, and listen. When students do that, everything falls in to place. To the parents and guardians, thank you for bringing them. Without you, we wouldn’t have too many on our rosters. We know that each week is a sacrifice in some way, and we appreciate you believing in us and trusting us to teach your children. To our instructors & Assistants (Amber, Rachel, Shana and Tyler), thank you for doing what you do. Being a dance instructor or studio owner is a very difficult but rewarding job. We go from teaching a basic step to chasing a child around a room or even chasing a bird (aka Skittles) out of the studio. You all have not only created beautiful dancers but beautiful people. You spend hours working on music cuts, choreography and formations. You are appreciated at the highest level! Thank you to everyone who has helped us with other random tasks through the year including our awesome rhinestoning queen Miss Lisa and her amazing seamstress mother “Amber’s Mimi”. We would never look as awesome and shiny on stage as we do without your help! Thank you also to Jordan Cheek and Melissa Hamby who always help us with our makeup needs (no matter how last minute we call them) and know just what shade will match best! Thank you lastly to our personal families. We take so much time out of our year for studio activities that we sometimes let our personal families sit in the background. We thank you guys for supporting us in our studio and all our events. Whether you guys are selling flowers, taking up tickets, giving out books or any other task. We thank you guys (Vance, Angie, Lory, Pat, Mom). We thank Mimi and Pops, Pat, Paw-Paw, Nannie and Angie for the many hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays watching Aerobella while we share our time with our dancers. You guys are amazing and we thank you and love you so much! This year our theme is “Step It Up”. This theme is meant to inspire and make all of us think how we can “Step It Up” in anything and everything we do. So often, the world around us gets complacent with being mediocre. But why? We were all created to do amazing and wonderful things by our Creator. So why should we be satisfied with mediocrity? Let’s take this next year and “Step It Up” in all areas of our lives whether it is with our dancing, our practicing, our choreography, our attitude, our family time, our worship time, our church commitments, our jobs, our giving, our love or anything else that we put time and effort into. “Whatever you do, do well.” Ecclesiastes 9:10
With much love and appreciation,
Derek, Melonie & Aerobella