Dreams Do Come True

Dreams do come true. Everyone in their life has a dream or two or three. Finding the way to achieve your dreams, goals, and aspirations is an epic journey on its own. It takes discipline, determination, and self -exploration. This is the tale of the journey I am still currently on. 

“I am blogging about my dreams and the people who helped make them true for the #AdviceThatMattered activity at BlogAdda in association with Stoodnt.”

As a child I always wanted to be in the spotlight. I was always the ham in family pictures, the one who had to excel past my brother, and be in the know of everything. When I was about twelve years old, I realized that entertaining people was what I was all about. Since I wasn’t any good at telling the jokes around the campfire or singing acappella, I thought about trying my dance skills. I liked dancing and I have always enjoyed music videos like Janet Jackon’s “Miss you much”, so I thought why not? What did I have to lose? With the support of my parents, particularly my mom, I went for the gusto. 

Like any first experience we remember all the details of the event. I remember my first dance class at J in Jazz Dance Studio. I was under the instruction of Julie Pederson who was one of the young faces in my little town of Sierra Vista. I was thirteen and thought that the class was awesome. Now if you are under the impression that I was great the first time around you are wrong. I was the one goofy awkward kid who was there having fun. Julie thought that I would be gone by the end of three months because I couldn’t hack it. She was just glad that I was there having fun and being a good student. According to some experts, since I started after the age of ten I was not supposed to be any good. Just six months after starting, something somewhere happened to both me and my dance ability. I was put on the competition/performance team, and then I just kept excelling from there. Every year or two, I was put on a higher more difficult team. The last team that I was put on was created because my other teammates and myself were excelling past the other team levels. I found my niche with dancing and found my hidden talent. I just kept on surprising myself and my family and friends. 

Competitions were the best part about being on the team. This was the part where I got the most competitive. Once on stage, I transformed from the girl, who back in school, was quiet and shy to the girl who was rocking, smiling, showing off, making others want to get up off their seats. I am a “crazy sexy tiger” with a sudden surge of absolute adrenaline rush throughout my body that I just gave it my all. A lot of people never knew that I was just starting on my path to becoming a dancer. The judges thought that the way I presented myself was great, which is such a compliment coming from them. 

Attending dance conventions was a good eye opener to the dance world and the world of going professional. While attending Tremaine dance convention, I was dancing with some of the most talented and sought out choreographers in the country and world. The teachers of Tremaine include Desiree Robinson, Doug Caldwell, and Wade Robson. These three had the most influence on me. They all made me see that performing was what I loved doing. Julie had also shown me the whole time, but the fact that they are the best choreographers this great country has really let me see that my dream was attainable. Meeting them and getting to make the connections with them, and Joe Tremaine himself, was the best thing I could have done in starting a dance career. After talking to Joe Tremaine, he personally referred me to some dance agencies in Los Angeles, California. This is a dream come true for a lot of dancers. 

Once I moved to Flagstaff, I decided I was going to go for the gold and call the dance agents. I was so nervous when I called and talked to them. I was worried. Would they like me? Will they represent me? What do I do or say when I talk to them? The moment came and I called the three studios in California. Once they found out that I got the information for their agencies from Joe Tremaine personally, they seemed to become very interested in me. Little ol’ me was suddenly getting the attention for being a dancer. 

This is about where my tale ends. I have to call the studios again and submit tapes of my performances, a resume, and a headshot to them. Once this is completed, the agents will either pick me up or not. The anxiety I have about this is intense, but it feels great. My mom is helping me through all of this in every way she can. My dance instructor is also, as usual, helping in every way possible and will continue to do so even if I make it to the big time. I can hardly wait to see what is the next stop on my road to becoming a dancer. 

If I could teach anyone anything it would be to follow your dreams and try to make them come true. They say it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all. I believe this is true for our dreams. It is better to have tried than to not have tried at all. I would much rather know that I gave it my all, than live with the “what ifs” in the back of my mind from not trying. Like a movie once said, ” you gotta keep on keepin’ on.” We are all shinning stars.