Purity

I had a fabulous opportunity last week that I would love to share with you:   

 My little Maddie dances on a special needs performance team.  Last week her dance group performed at the annual Mr. and Mrs. Amazing pageant held at Tooele High School. It truly is a euphoric experience to listen to the audience go wild when her team is announced and begins to dance!  It made me remember the first time I ever watched her perform on stage:

Years ago, when we used to live in Kamas, I took Maddie weekly to Virginia Tanner Dance Company in Salt Lake City.  It was the end of the company’s dance year and they were presenting their finale performance.  It was held at Kingsbury Hall.  I was so nervous. I remember sitting in the audience next to my mom as the music started.  The number was choreographed so that each special needs performer danced from backstage onto the floor with another dancer in the company.  I anxiously watched front stage right, where I knew Maddie would enter. 

It was crazy when I saw her dance from behind that curtain onto the stage.  I didn’t mean to; but I sputtered. Had I not already been holding my breath, I’m sure I would have gasped—it just happened to be the sound associated with the direction of my breath.  I clapped my hand to my mouth to prevent anymore audible distractions from my daughter’s debut performance.  I began to tremble. Tears filled my eyes and spilled down onto my cheeks.  My mom squeezed my leg and looked at me, as if to ask if I was going to be okay.  I shook my head, smiling, shocked at the force of my emotions. Through my tears, I watched my sweet little girl surprise me with her grace and presence in her tie-die costume, barefoot on the stage, twirling and smiling and wiggling her bum, causing the audience to erupt in laughter.  I couldn’t remember when I’d ever been more grateful and moved.

Have you ever been in a crowd of people that erupted in cheers so forcefully you tingled with chills from the crown of your head, down your spine, all the way to your core? And because of the intensity you felt, you recognized you were in the presence of something so profound and honorable?  That is what I knew when the music stopped, and I saw my daughter and her fellow dancers on stage beaming in triumph, and I listened to the audience roar their tribute to the purity we were just blessed to witness.  

Now, every time I watch her dance, I remember that moment.  It is easy to be transported back to that feeling because wherever and whenever she and her dance team members perform, they are welcomed by audiences with such overwhelming emotion.  Their performances always rock the house because they are a reminder of the pure, unpretentious expression of joy.  And now that she is a teenager, it is so fun for me to watch her personality blossom and to see a side of her that is timid and nervous before and after a performance.  I am both proud and grateful!!

I want to thank Susan Trujillo, owner of Jazz-In-It! who provides free dance lessons for special needs populations in all of Tooele County.  You are a hero.  Thank you for your dedication to these dancers and to the art of dance!

 

If you have or know of a family that has a special needs family member that would enjoy social interaction, exercise and being a "Firecracker" (as is the name of their team), call Susan at 435-882-5496. Lessons are free and held every Tuesday from 5:00-5:45pm.

Way to go "Firecrackers!!"  You light up my life. :-)