One of our newest company members, Sami Rassett (fun fact, she is three-year-member Melissa Petty's sister!) has a million jobs in addition to dancing with Explore. Okay, we take it back. Not a million. But the girl has at least three. One of those jobs is at Foxtail Senior Living Center and when she said they'd like us to come perform we jumped at the chance. Only one challenge, the numbers we typically tour with are from previous seasons and the person the residents really wanted to see dance was Sami. Houston, we have a problem.
On January 10, select Explore Dance Company members arrived at Foxtail Senior Living Center ready to perform four numbers: Fosse and Ke Alaula, two dances from Exploration (2022), a tap solo by Hannah Jarvis created specifically for this performance, and Shawshank Redemption, a piece choreographed by Lorraine Fisher for our upcoming charity benefit concert, Cinematic, scheduled for April 28 at the Nampa Civic Center. Normally we would never debut a peice early but we knew Sami had to perform. We wouldn't dare disappoint the residents of Foxtail Senior Living Center.
Every community event has its adventures. No matter how many times you check out the venue before, something is always a little different. In this case, rather than having a clear "front" of the stage, audience members were sitting around us in a circle. Hannah did an amazing job adjusting her tap choreography on the fly. She spun and twirled, making eye contact with every guest in the room.
As much as we love to dance, the best moments are never the ones on the stage. The times we treasure are the interactions we get to have after we perform. We spent a few minutes walking around to chat with the residents and those conversations were absolutely priceless. Our favorite? The resident who informed us that she only had one complaint – it was too short. We needed to do the whole thing again.
The ability to perform for the generations that have come before us is not something we take for granted. It holds a special place in all of our hearts. Our 2024 show will be titled Nostalgia (yes, we really do plan ahead) and we hope to be able to bring our love for dance to many more senior centers as we prepare for that show.
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