Last month as the ART Company was waiting for the Youth Day Parade to begin, Ms. Charlotte learned something about one of our dancers that she never knew before. At the youth day parade, in addition to handing out candy, the dancers hand out little cards for children to come try a free dance class at ADC. The cards usually have a piece of candy attached to them, and we know the reality is that most of those little cards end up in the trash. Even though we don't end up seeing the cards come through the studio often, we give them out because inviting students to come learn about dance is one of the many things we are passionate about.
There Ms. Charlotte stood with her students where she has personally lined up more than 20 times to participate in the parade. Everyone was hoping the rain would hold off so they could dance their way down Canton Street. That's when Teen Company member Molly Lambert shared this little fact with us:
Molly began dancing at ADC 4 years ago because ART company alumni Haley Varano handed her a free trial card at the Roswell Youth Day Parade. That small gesture from a current ART company member inviting another student to come to the parade led to a huge change for a dedicated student.
Molly began dancing at ADC in the fall of 2011 in a youth hip hop class. She spent the summer of 2012 trying different drop in classes to find out what she would like best. In February of 2013, Molly was the Atlanta Dance Central Student of the Month. Molly worked hard in class, began taking more styles of dance, and joined the ART Junior Company in 2014. This year Molly is in the Teen Company at ADC and her dancing continues to impress us with each class. We've watched Molly's love for dance grow each year and as hard as it is to believe it all started with Haley just handing her a free trial class card, we're so glad it did.
It's things like this that remind us that the little gestures can change someone's path in a positive way. We'll continue handing out free trial class cards at the parade, and hoping that we can share the love of dance with each of the student's that walks through our door.