This past week, I went back to the dance studio I work at to prepare for two upcoming performances at the Moscow Country Fair. The fair was always really popular when I was growing up but the tradition stopped since then. Last summer, 10 years after the last fair, they brought it back. Our studio performed in the parade last year and we planned on doing it again this year. We were also going to be part of a performance on Saturday with other local dance studios and performers. We rehearsed some of our favorite dances from our spring show as well as some new ones. Michelle, one of the owners, mentioned how cool it would be to bring back a dance we did three years ago; it probably has to be the favorite dance for everyone at the studio. However, there were only a few days before the performance so we didn’t schedule any time to rehearse it. So the first thing my sister (and also fellow teacher) and I thought to do was relearn the entire dance from the DVD of our show that year and re taught it to the girls who were in it. It sounded like a good idea, but it was more difficult than we thought it would be. Once we figured out the dance (and the changes we needed to make) we met at the studio Thursday, two days before the performance on Saturday, and spent two hours working on the dance. That night, during our final rehearsal for the performances, we surprised Michelle and Ashley with it. They were thrilled. Our dancers performed amazing on Friday and Saturday! I’m so proud of them for learning new dances with only a few rehearsals and bringing everything together. They really worked hard!

Some of our Senior Company Tap dancers

After our performances, I had a chance to walk around and see everything that was going on. In addition to dancers and live music, there were also a lot of local artists. Moscow Clayworks, a local studio and gallery, had a tent with their ceramic pieces on display and they looked wonderful! Other artists were selling paintings, wood carvings, and showing different demonstrations. It was a really great opportunity to see different local artists and I’m really glad they brought this tradition back! This year had many more artists, events, and performances than last year, and next year I’m sure it will be even better!

Until next week!
~Jordan