Hello Dear Maple Street!
MESSAGE FROM ROMY,
owner of Maple Street Dance Space:
It is the tail end of 2023, and my Heart is FULL as I write this message of gratitude, and surprising news about BIG changes coming for Maple Street, in 2024.
First the Big News.
After working through many possibilities, and with a heck of a lot of mental and emotional sorting and processing,
for a NUMBER of reasons, disappointing, frustrating, exciting, too, I will NOT be renewing a lease for Maple Street, come this July, 2024.
This decision has been over a year in the making, and has undergone MANY different iterations - from trying to buy the building to hoping someone in the community might want to take it over - but the significant challenges of staying in this space are just too BIG. With rising costs and a changing neighborhood, lack of parking and the aging of the building, compounded with the landlord's evolving needs - along with my own - it is time to let go, and to explore new and creative avenues.
I know this is big news, and kind of scary...and sad! In 2024 it will be TWENTY YEARS we've been "dancing, drumming, singing and shimmying", as the first Maple Street website proclaimed.
...But its also exciting, and full of potential!
Over this last year I've been able to process, to GRIEVE, to worry, to freak out, and to EXPAND into a WORLD of Possibilities,
of Surrender, of Trust,
and especially of MAGICK - the kind that Miracles are made of!
I invite you to Be Present in all of these places too.
As we move into the coming year, DANCING THROUGH JUNE 2024, I hope you'll join me in receiving the surprising Gift that this, and that all change, brings. What new opportunities, perspectives and choices will guide our communities into our next levels of expansion and potential!? After running the studio for two decades, I am confident that the Highest Good does indeed, prevail - I've seen it and I've experienced it, again and again!
[For info on where Romy’s Ballet Afrique/Ballet de la Terre Contemporary, Contemporary & Classical Adult Ballet Basics, and Dancing Our Magick are landing, CLICK HERE! Info on other classes and communities will be posted as they become available - stay tuned!]
THANK YOU, to every single person who has stepped foot into the sacred space that IS Maple Street Dance Space - YOU have directly contributed to its unique and precious Presence as a meaningful, supportive and welcoming space for creativity, diversity, and belonging!
THANK YOU to my teachers, especially Rujeko Dumbutshena and Ceilia Dale, for the Dance, for the Technique, for the Lessons and the Teachings, and for the Beautiful, Powerful, Life Changing Opportunities you gave me!
THANK YOU to my students, my dancing friends, for your Joy and your support.
THANK YOU "Renters" all the instructors, creatives, and community builders of EVERY KIND, for bringing your knowledge, passion and creativity.
THANK YOU for 20 years of Pure Joy and Life Well Lived - of monumental personal growth, of challenge and change and renewal, of creativity and exhaustion, of lack and plenty, of more of that Trust and Surrender,
and of LOVE,
of Community....and Grace.
THANK YOU MAPLE STREET,
FOR TEACHING ME, FOR GROWING ME, FOR DANCING ME!!!
Its been an AMAZING ride, and I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!!!
Let's DANCE UP A STORM the next several months, as we sew seeds for our new dance adventures!
ON THAT NOTE, PLEASE NOTE:
We'll KEEP DANCING through June of 2024,
and plans are being made for a BIG 'ol Summer Solstice performance CELEBRATION and ceremony, to honor our time together and to send us all on our merry ways -
so stay close, and stay tuned!
If you were a teacher in the space anytime over the last 20 years, and are interested in being a part of this performance celebration, please contact me!
DANCE DIFFERENTLY!
CHANGE IS GOOD! Taking a step back from administration next year, I'll be taking a giant LEAP forward, into the Field of All Possibilities, redirecting my energies into developing and nurturing Dancing Our Magick, a unique dance program for adults, featuring Ballet de la Terre: original contemporary dance, and Adult Ballet Basics, both of which incorporate my own special signature approach, to adult, community dance.
It will be housed in a new studio we are building in my big beautiful yard!
We’re planning 10 foot ceiling and a foot print of 24 x 48, just a few feet shy of the dimensions of the Front Door Studio, with French doors that open out onto an outdoor packed earth dance floor, and garden sitting areas, where dancers will be invited to come early or stay late to enjoy coffee, teas, and freshly made treats, while reading, or journaling, sketching, or just daydreaming in the dreamy space...
Thanks for reading, and for your kind support all these years!
KEEP DANCING THROUGH JUNE 2024!
"Let the Beauty you Love be what you do, there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." ~Rumi
With LOVE,
Romy