SHARING THE JOY OF DANCE by Michele Goldin

Michele Goldin

Michele Goldin divides her time between Madrid, Spain, and New York City, where she is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts. A native of Fairfax, Virginia, she studied Spanish dance and ballet in in Madrid, Sevilla, Cádiz, Washington D.C., New York, and Chicago, receiving a diploma in Spanish Dance from Spain's Sevilla Conservatory in 1999. Her research paper, Dance Anthropology: Spain in the Flamenco Trilogy of Carlos Saura and Antonio Gades was published in 2005 in Hispanic Culture Review. Between her busy schedule of dance and scholarship, Michele still finds time for her other loves: her fiance Richard, teaching, languages, animals, and children, especially her new baby nephew.

 

In September 2004 I had been for several years the director of my own Spanish dance company, Danzamarina, a group of children and adults that performed the music and dance of Spain throughout the Washington, D.C., area. This was the second year that Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts had invited Danzamarina to perform in its annual International Children's Festival in which young artists from around the world come together to share their talents on one of the most important stages of the East Coast. At only 18 years old I and my youngest students were given the opportunity to dance on the same stage that icons Mikhail Baryshnikov and Maya Plisetskaya, and flamenco phenomenon Farruquito had appeared on, to name a few. For me, these were big shoes to fill.

The students I chose to perform with me formed a group of nine young girls that I had been working with for about a year. All of them shared the right combination of passion and commitment. Their incredible enthusiasm, talent, and dedication astounded me and they had quickly become very important to me -- my pride, joy, and motivation as a dance teacher.

On that sunny September afternoon my nine little girls showed up early and bright-eyed at the stage door. Their mothers had allowed them to miss a day of school for this performance, but until they saw with their own eyes the scale of the stage they would dance on did its reality set in. The girls had had experience doing countless shows in all sorts of venues from schools and churches to community events and small theaters. They had danced to both recorded music and with live musicians, done presentations both on the street and in auditoriums, changed their costumes in both make-shift dressing areas and actual dressing rooms, and they had learned that what made their performance professional was their attitude -- their hard work, optimism, determination, and confidence. Appearing on a professional stage of the importance of Wolf Trap raised their standards to a new level. It was no small accomplishment for them and they knew it. Facing an audience of nearly 2,000, the girls took the stage looking impeccable, beaming with excitement and nerves, and prepared to give the best performance they ever had.

Michele (in white, left center) with her students.

As I watched from behind the curtain a surreal and overwhelming happiness came over me. It wasn't like anything I'd felt before. I had always been proud of my perseverance and my accomplishments in the past, but this was a different kind of pride. This was knowing nine young girls had looked up to me, had absorbed whatever it was I had to offer, soaking it up like little sponges and learning not only about the world of dance, but a little something about themselves too. They were beautiful and talented and strong. I hadn't given them that. But in that moment I thought perhaps I might have helped provide them with a stepping stone along the way to becoming the best women they can be, instilling in them the skills and, most important, the drive and the confidence it takes to present oneself in front of thousands of people. And be successful.

At the end of their performance the crowd cheered with enthusiasm. Success! The girls ran off the stage, relieved and thrilled, and surrounded me with a massive and heart-warming group hug because they had done an amazing job. My little dancers had performed on the great stage of Wolf Trap. It was a fabulous moment, the kind that takes your breath away, lifts your spirit, and makes everything worthwhile.