My time at Culture Show has been a journey. A decade ago I started bringing my young kids for class and while they were in their youth class, I joined Cardio Hip Hop class. As my kids progressed in class they decided to audition for Mini Shock (the performing group for kids 6-11) and earned a spot on the team. I was spending a lot of time at the studio during rehearsals and figured with my background in nonprofit work I might be able to lend a hand. I applied to join the board of directors and helped with operations, funding and events.
In 2019 I also put my dance skills to work and joined the studio adult team, Shock Army. Although I had grown up on stage performing in plays and musicals, this was my first experience with a dance team. It was an extremely fun experience and I met amazing people. In March 2020, when the world shut down, we had to end our season and hope we could return together one day. The youth troupes on the other hand, continued to train through weekly Zoom meet-ups and the staff and I helped facilitate this vital social interaction for our kids.
As we were coming out of the pandemic I moved into the Executive Director role at Culture Shock overseeing both the studio program and the troupes program. This was a time of major adjustment and expansion and it was a labor of love. But no matter how busy life became it was important to me to keep dancing, keep doing the thing that me feel alive and joyful. I joined Afta Shock (our adult troupe ages 25+) in 2021 and have been on the team for 8 seasons. Every season has been an adventure and has brought more friendships into my life.
Dance is something that I have been involved in since I was 4 years old. It is an outlet that has so many benefits from physical fitness, to mental focus, social community to emotional release. Culture Shock brought a renewed excitement for dance back into my life and has created a home and foundation for my kids to train and grow up. I’ve heard these same stories from so many people over the years I have been with Culture Shock which just shows me that this organization is important and special.
I hope that you are inspired to donate to this incredible nonprofit and that my story, like so many other others, continues to be the legacy about how Culture Shock changed our lives.
