Just Laugh

Another week has gone by and I'm amazed at how time is flying. The end of the year performance will be here before we know it. Our instructors have been very ambitious and most of the year-end music has already been picked out and has been echoing around the studio. I can not wait to see what the performance unfolds to be. The students are very eager to begin their new dances as well.

This past week has been a week full of very funny moments. Last Monday little 5-year-old Lauren educated Ms. Sadie and me on the difference between nylons and dance tights. 'Nylons can not be worn to dance class cause dance tights are very strong. Nylons are what old ladies wear and are very delicate.' We got quite the laugh out of Lauren's description. Never will we forget the difference again!


Ms. Magee and I also had a very entertaining baton class. We have discovered if all else fails draw a very complex picture depicting what the students should be doing in hopes they will understand! Just kidding...we did go over the move but I was very proud of Ms. Magee's very detailed picture of a 'flash'. If she doesn't make it as a dancer she can always become an artist!


I also had a surprise waiting for me Monday when I arrive at the Independence studio. A small portion of the hung ceiling had fallen down and was hanging very low over the mirrors. One of the lights did crash down before the end of the ordeal but it was a fairly quick fix once the maintenance guy arrived. All has returned to it's proper place now!

I would also like to congratulate Ms. Abi on being selected to take part in this year's "Dancing with the Cedar Valley Stars" so if there are any dad's out there interested in taking part you might get Ms. Abi as a partner.

I'm leaving this blog entry with a quote that took place tonight in class from one of our five year olds "We can't do grande plies cause it makes my butt stick out." Love it!

One Week, One Snow Day

Well, so far 2010 has been just as difficult in the weather area as 2009 was. The start of snow fall made the the end of Wednesday classes a little bit difficult and forced us to cancel classes (yet again) for today. The wind is really picking up so I think it's best if we all just stay tucked in.


The first week back of class has been very busy. We welcomed about ten new students into our program this week. Kinetic Energy always gets an influx of new students in January as many parents give lessons as presents. We also welcomed the Capeoira Club to Kinetic Energy this week. They will be training at Kinetic Energy several nights a week.


We had a very beautiful surprise arrive Monday evening. Holly and her mom, Beth, had two very beautiful watercolor pictures made for Kinetic Energy. The exciting part of it all is that the dancers in the pictures are Kinetic Energy students. I was very surprised and will treasure these pictures forever. Please make sure you check them out next time you are in as they are being housed at the Cedar Falls studio right now.


The website has been updated with lots of new information. Almost every page was updated. Head over and join us on Facebook if you have it. We will be posting fun pictures and videos there as the year moves on. We are also gearing up for "Bring A Friend Week" in February. It's always a crazy time for Kinetic Energy but the students enjoy it a lot. My favorite is when the older kids bring their dad's and Ms. Debra makes them do floor barre in ballet. Poor dad's!

One week down and I'm going to end it on the note Jannah proclaimed on Monday in the middle of class..."Ballet RULES!"

Happy New Years!

Wow, another year has flown by here at Kinetic Energy! And what a year it was! 2009 brought many great ventures at Kinetic Energy.

One of the biggest ventures in 2009 was the addition of the Independence location. After finding the perfect location and two very eager-to-work teenagers, the remodeling project took no time at all. We took possession of the building March 1st and opened the doors April 1st with a very busy Open House. Independence got their first exposure to Kinetic Energy during summer classes held in July and August. Fall classes kicked off very strong with classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

We kicked off the new school year with a big remodeling project at the Cedar Falls studio as well. Staff and students both were getting tired of the "white" walls so we decided to add some color in the form of 'Reflecting Pool'. One of our mom's spent several hours giving the studio a make-over and the students loved it. Now they are trying to convince me to put little Nemo's on the wall...it hasn't worked yet but who knows what 2010 will bring!

September and October flew by as everyone got back in the routine of classes and preparing for another great year. We welcomed more students through the doors of Kinetic Energy this year than we've ever had. We went from offering 37 classes during the 2008-2009 year to offering 50 classes for the 2009-2010 year! Wow!!

November became crunch time in getting ready for the Concert of Joy. We sadly were unable to take part in the Festival of Trees this year so we had all students perform in our own holiday show the Concert of Joy. In preparing for this, a select group of dancers were invited to perform with the Wartburg Symphony in their rendition of Swan Lake. Kinetic Energy dancers performed six full-length pieces from the ballet.

Although the weather did frighten us the week before the Concert of Joy, it did go off on time this year. The students and staff put on two wonderful shows at the Strayer-Wood Theatre in December. The theatre was filled with songs like "Mr. Grinch", "Rock This Christmas", "Run, Rudolph, Run" and many other holiday favorites. The following week we celebrated the successful shows and played some 'reindeer games' in preparation for our holiday break.

So here I sit, break coming to an end and headed back to classes in less than 48 hours. Break was wonderful but I'm ready to get back to work. We will take a month or two to focus on technique before we begin working on our year-end dances. This years theme is 'Oh, The Places We'll Go' and the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center will be filled with a wonderful selection of songs depicting different places around the world.

I look forward to the adventures 2010 holds for Kinetic Energy! Best wishes to everyone this year and watch for many more blog entries this year. This is my New Year's Resolution (well one of them) for Kinetic Energy...make sure I share more of the exciting happenings with everyone! Hold on to your hats cause there is never a dull moment!