At the start of every season, I notice the dancers who aren’t in the room anymore.
Some of our seniors have graduated and moved on to university, work, or whatever comes next. I’m proud of them. I’m excited for them. And I still miss seeing them walk through the studio door.
They leave behind more than an empty spot in a class. They were the dancers who knew where to go, helped someone remember a combination, or made a younger student feel like they belonged. A lot of that leadership happened in small moments when nobody was watching.
Then a new season begins, and I see other dancers stepping into those spaces. Someone offers to help before being asked. Someone speaks up. Someone who used to look to the older dancers for reassurance is now the person giving it.
I love watching that happen. I see it in our S.T.E.P. program, too, where dancers learn to help and lead in class. Leadership at GLDA isn’t something we hand to a dancer all at once. They grow into it, season by season, surrounded by people who show them how.
To our graduates: we miss you, and we can’t wait to hear what you’re doing next. To the dancers finding your place this year: the younger ones are watching you, just as you once watched the seniors ahead of you. You may not realize yet how much that matters.
Here we go, Season 17.
Tia