A few weeks before the recital, we received an email from the studio owner announcing she was closing her studio. She would continue teaching through the Cary Park District which was only another 5 minutes from the current studio! However, the current studio is 15 minutes from our house. Add another 5 to that. Now multiply that by 4 girls. Now multiply that by 4 classes each. From the start, we knew it was a no-go to follow the studio owner to the Cary Park District.
With great trepidation, we told the girls we were going to look for a new studio. There are two within a couple minutes of our house- so close the girls could ride their bikes to them- so we started with those. I checked their websites, read up on reviews, made calls and finally set up evaluations. We needed a studio that could cater to Liesel and Gita who are pretty dedicated to dance as well as Ireland and Sydney who see it as more of a hobby.
Brent and I also had long discussions about dance in general. I mean, we are a DANCE family, for sure. But how did we get in this deep? Like Girl Scouts, we wanted the girls to have circles of friends outside the church. We looked at each other and just laughed and laughed over that one. There are a fair number of girls from church at Dancespirations! We also wanted the girls to be proud of their bodies, carry themselves with grace, learn to overcome stage fright... somehow in the midst of all that, dance had kinda become our lives. The funny thing is that we don't even put the girls in competition, which is a whole other beast. We found ourselves asking- how did we get here? More importantly- is this still a priority? Liesel in particular was saying maybe she would just quit dance altogether. The very thought made me sad. So many discussions!
The week of evaluations was really tough because the girls were still at their old studio so our already hectic schedule of dance classes was doubled. Many times they'd have to leave one class early to make it to another or come late to make it all fit. In the end they were properly evaluated and the recommendation for classes was put forward. Brent and I braced ourselves for the cost. Part of the reason we had gone with the old studio was because they gave generous family discounts. Turns out the new studio cost about the same: full price for the first girl, half price for the second and third, and little Miss Sydney was completely free! Costumes were twice as much, but we anticipated that. The old studio only made us pay cost. Like everyone else in the dance world, the new studio added on fees to pad their pockets. Regardless, we were pleasantly surprised this wasn't going to break us.
I think the girls shoved aside thoughts of their new studio as they prepared for their final recital with Dancespirations. It was just business as usual, really. On the day of the recital they came to me crying- pretty much everyone was going to the Cary Park District. It was one thing to be leaving the studio owner we all love and adore, it was another thing to be the ONLY ones leaving the studio owner! It stung a bit more that all the girls they knew from church and had danced with for years were following the studio owner to Cary. I was able to snap one final group photo with almost everyone from church!
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