What a year!

Yes, it has been hard.  It has been confusing. It has been a whirlwind of emotions – some joyful, celebratory and others frustrating and sad. But, with every pivot, we’ve learned, we’ve grown and we have persevered.

This spring we were so taken aback by the generosity of this community; to pivot with us, to make the best of a situation no one saw coming and to support and lift up those in our community who needed it most with our mandate of No Dancer Left Behind.

We continued to dance, and when we could finally be together outdoors, we celebrated. Oh boy, did that feel good! We celebrated the end of the year and our 10^th Anniversary with our recreational dancers in our first-ever virtual recital, Cheers to 10 Years. Though not how we envisioned celebrating our anniversary, it was heart-warming to see families together, cheering and dancing together in their living rooms.

When our doors opened once again in the fall we had a renewed sense of appreciation for each other, and for how good it felt to dance together. Seeing our competitive routines hit the stage in September was magical.

Team Snap worked diligently all year long, to keep us dancing, and to have a safe and healthy space from day 1 and we will continue to go above and beyond to keep it that way.

As we face further restrictions and this second wave, we are prepared. This inevitability is one reason we created our virtual dance model. We are grateful to our Tech Sponsors, Barnett Orthodontics and Chew Chew Paediatric Dentistry, who helped make this possible. While dancing at home is not ideal, we are so glad we can continue to connect, to move and to express, together. Each setback is a new opportunity to become stronger.

It is important to be thankful, to appreciate what we have, but it is also good to acknowledge when times are tough. Emotions are not bad. They are not something to hide. When they are named and respected, they can be worked through and resolved and we can use them to move forward. Our focus this year, more than ever, has been to focus on, take care of and respect our mental health, to support one another on this journey and to make dance a place where we can forget what’s going on in the world for a little while.

Dance is an emotional craft. On the surface it looks like fancy exercise, but it’s so much more than that. It’s our release. When we dance, we wear our emotions on our sleeves, sit with it, listen to it, sweat with it, and then let it go. This is part of why now, more than ever, we need to keep dancing.

Dance is an outlet to express ourselves and a healthy way to explore the emotions that swirl around us. We stretch, jump, turn, and sweat our way through.

Our time together right now may be virtual, but the passion to keep going can be felt far and wide. We will make it through this together. At the end of this, we will be better artists, better friends, and a better community.

There is nothing we want more than to have rooms full of hugs and smiles, and to be celebrating the season, in-person, with our dance family. We want to thank all of you for pivoting with us, supporting this amazing community and for letting us have a hand in raising your children. We have always said that dance is about more than just the steps, it’s about the life lessons that come with them. This year, more than ever, we have learned resilience, perseverance, adaptability, gratitude and the value of community.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy new year. We look forward to getting back into the studio and dancing with all of you in 2021.

Happy Holidays,

Team Snap