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On My Mind
Words From the Publisher
As a teenager, I remember
overhearing a group of dance teachers at a dance convention
get all fired up about the recent rumor they had heard about
another dance teacher (who was not there, of course). Some
shook their heads in disgust; others had that look of “I
shouldn’t be listening to this, but I wouldn’t want to be
anywhere else right now.” I watched them head off to spread
the word until everyone in the room seemed to know that Mary
Jane’s husband had taken off with her studio funds and that
she might not be able to afford to reopen her school. Or at
least that’s the way I heard it.
As my mother and I were driving
home, another dance teacher we carpooled with said to my
mother, “Did you hear that Mary Jane is on drugs and is about
to lose her school because of it?” I said nothing then, but
later I told my mother what I had heard. Her response: “Forget
about it—you should hear what they say about me!” She added,
“I was too busy taking class to listen to the rumor mill.”
Those words have always stuck in my mind because I was
surprised that she didn’t care to know about other people’s
problems, nor what others said about her. That was the message
she wanted me to get—but I had, in fact, seen my mother cry
about some of the rumors dance people had spread about her.
Not too long ago I received a
phone call from an old friend I hadn’t heard from in years. I
was excited to hear from him and anxious to find out what was
going on in his life. But I never had the chance to ask. For
two hours he ripped apart a mutual dance friend, whom I had
known only as his best friend. The rumors, judgments, and
accusations crushed me, but I let him rant. I didn’t know how
to react. I did ask him if he was dancing and he told me that
he was working at Starbucks because he hadn’t had a dance job
in more than a year.
After the call I felt terrible,
not only because I had heard such horrific tales about someone
I cared about, but because my old friend was obsessed with his
feelings. Here he was spending two hours on the phone on this
rampage, when he could have spent that time looking into
auditions or teaching opportunities or taking a class.
My thoughts went back to the Mary
Jane rumor from many years ago. There was another lesson, one
that had taken 30 years to hit me: My mother was too busy
taking class to give an iota about gossip. That’s what made
her such a success. She had no time for anything but becoming
better at what she did and taking a smidge of time to live the
“normal” life.
If I had my way I would like to
declare the dance world a no-gossip zone. Imagine the
collective success our dance community would experience if we
all stayed focused on being the best we can be. By the way,
Mary Jane has been happily married to her husband for 43 years
and he never did take off with the studio funds. The real
story was that a parent at the studio stole $50 from the cash
box!
That’s what’s on my mind—but go
ahead and spread the “gossip” that with this issue,
Goldrush has become Dance Studio Life. In our pages
you’ll find a new look, with many redesigned elements and new
monthly departments: hands-on teaching tips from Mignon Furman
(“2 Tips for Teachers”), stories that we’d love for you to
share with your students (“Common Ground”), a personal
experience/opinion page (“Thinking Out Loud”),
reader-nominated teacher profiles (“Teacher in the
Spotlight”), and a closing-page photo that speaks for itself
(“1,000 Words”). You’ll also find all the things you have told
us you love most. Enjoy!
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