Winter 2023 has been a rewarding time for our DBSD dancers and staff! We’re all so proud of the efforts of all our students so far in 2023, and we look forward to a fun-filled spring!
In January:
· Two of our dancers earned regional Dance Masters of America titles: Liberty Houldsworth became Mid-Atlantic Dance Masters’ Petite Miss Dance, and Colton Eckenrode became Mid-Atlantic Dance Masters’ Junior Mister Dance.
· We visited Mr. Sam at the National Theatre in Washington, DC, to see him portray Plato/Macavity in “Cats”.
· We hosted a Winter Workshop taught by Drew Burgess and Tauri Munger.
· Miss Abby and I completed our Alixa Module 5 Flexibility Certification, while having the opportunity to observe McKenna Dunn, Kate Hartinger and Jordan Wanuck as demonstrators for the course.

In February:
· Our young dancers enjoyed a “Be My Valentine” Mini Camp, and all our students received heart-shaped silly straws as our gifts to our favorite Valentines!
· We also held our very first Broadway Cabaret performed by our Adult Musical Theatre class and hosted by our dear friends at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre.
· Miss Sarah was accepted into and attended the “Broadway Evolved Winter Intensive”, where she studied with Christy Altomare, Jessica Vosk, Betsy Wolfe and other renowned Broadway professionals.
· In the final weekend of February, our competition team took the stage for the first time this season, and all our dancers were remarkable!
· Isabella Thompson passed her Cecchetti Grade VI exam; Eliana Bergman, Meredith Dunn, and Brynn Munger passed their Grade V exam; and Madison Jonke, Olivia Parmenter, Mia Polansky, and Nya Rifenberg passed their Grade III exams!

“Dance BIG, Smile BIG, Perform BIG, and if you mess up…MESS UP BIG!” The reciting of this break-a-leg ritual has been around since at least 2010, and possibly earlier (Miss Jaimie and I have been digging back to see if we can figure out when we first used it as our performance call to the stage.) The staff and I want all our dancers to be CONFIDENT AND FEARLESS onstage, and we want them to ENJOY EVERY MOMENT! To let go of insecurities, we must acknowledge our fear of making a mistake, and then put it into the perspective that one mistake, or even several mistakes, will never override the power of a PASSIONATE AND COMMITTED performance. We want our dancers to overcome their fear of mistakes and TRUST THEMSELVES. And that’s why “Mess Up Big” has become our mantra. Recently Miss Abby designed t-shirts with that phrase on the back, and our closing chant “Class Claps!”, on the front. It has quickly become one of my favorite studio attire items of all time!
What’s next for our dancers?
· Enrollment for our summer camps, intensives, and classes has begun!
· March will bring our competition team’s second big event, our Mid-Atlantic Dance Masters competition in Front Royal, VA!
· Several dancers will be attending New York City Dance Alliance’s event in Atlantic City.
· We’ll be hosting our “Spring Fling” mini camp on Saturday, March 25, for our younger dancers.
· Many of our MHS musical theatre performers will be taking the stage together to perform “Catch Me If You Can” on March 31, April 1, and April 2.
We are thrilled to continue to share our love of dance with all our students, and we’re excitedly preparing for our spring recitals!
Miss Dee
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