We are moving!!
We know you want all of the details right away, so we will start with the nitty-gritty!
We are officially moving into an 11,000 square foot space, in the northeast corner of the old Herbergers building! Our new facility will house six dance studios, two drinking fountains, and way better parking options! Students most request one of those items, and parents the other.... we will let you decide which is which!
We started the process months ago. The very last day of pictures and the weekend before the recitals, we were made aware of the possibility. We got to work on all of the details the week after the culmination of the shows. We anticipated a quick process of lease negotiations, a fast buildout, and to be dancing in our new space by the middle of October....what can we say? We are optimistic!
To say that nothing has gone as we had "anticipated" would be an understatement! We are now scheduled to move in and begin classes at the new facility the first week back after Christmas break!
In the meantime, we have been able to secure additional space to begin our October start date classes as scheduled. Cue massive sigh of relief and cheer of excitement.
If you have a student registered in a class that begins the week of October 14th, we will send all of those details separately.
If this is all of the information, you wanted to know, then party on! Keep practicing your expert driving and maneuvering skills in our teeny tiny parking lot while you still have the chance! We will update with progress pictures, stories, and details as the proceed onward and upward.
If you're still reading and want to know more of the heart of the process, we will open the book below and let you into the story.
Finding out about the opportunity and possibility of expanding into such a great location was exciting, overwhelming, and seemingly an answer to some growing pains that we are feeling.
Growing is exciting and beautiful, but just like the growing of young feet, it often requires new shoes. It doesn't care that you just bought a new pair two months ago, or in our case, seven years.
Moving to this size of a space, in this great of a location is a God-sized dream. A dream that we weren't even allowing ourselves to dream until it called us on the phone and asked us if we would be interested. Why, yes, we would be interested. Could you possibly call us back next week, when we aren't quite as busy?!
And call us it back it did. Or actually, we called them back and then about 100 more times in the process of getting everything negotiated. "Them" refers to an exceptional someone in our corner who is responsible for getting us thus far.
So, that leaves us right where we are today. A dream that is bigger than us for a mission that is also bigger than us.
A new space. A space designed for children. Our hope for this new space is that it would be a safe space for kids. A place where students can grow, not only as a dancer but as a person. A place for them to feel embraced on their good days and their bad. A place to push past your fears and try. A place where it is not only okay but encouraged to be you. A place to feel loved and love to be.
It is scary to type out these dreams and share them with you. We want to be open about exactly where we are and our heart behind saying "Yes" to this big move!
We will be praying over the space on Sunday, October 6th, at 6:00 pm. Will you join us?
We will be in the East parking lot, behind the old Herbergers. See you there!
Much Love!
All of us at The Dance Works