08/06/2025
31 Years Teaching Dance
❤️
I have devoted 31 years of my life to teaching dance lessons to the youth of our community. Many of you have recently received word that I will no longer continue into the 2025-26 dance year.
My dance studio was my life’s work, my calling, and my purpose. My heart and soul were poured into every moment, every routine, and every dancer that walked through the door.
In 1994 I made a commitment to the community and I honored it for the 31 years that followed. For three decades of dancers – I was in it for the long game – teaching kids from the time when they were three years old, until they turned eighteen.
Yes, there were hours and hours spent doing choreography on the weekends, week nights, and in the car on commutes, (I remember the year I had to choreograph the winter recital finale in my utility room on Christmas Night) music editing, paperwork, prop making, all-of-the-spray-painting, missing people who are gone, giving countless sacrifices, blood, sweat, & tears, then standing in the wings with a stomach full of butterflies and a heart full of pride.
The 2024–2025 dance year came with cruel and unwelcome challenges and stresses. There was a spiteful vendetta aimed directly at damaging me, and only me – but I battled through the year, tired, emotional, completely undone , with a brave face and a smile because there was an entire community of real lives, real people, and real kids involved. Last year left my spirit completely broken and my creativity brutally drained.
Now in August, I’ve had to make an extremely difficult decision – a decision that has caused me to mourn as though there’s been a horrible death, but a decision that I know in my heart is now the right one.
I have taught for 31 years. I will turn age 50 in a matter of a few months. Due to the recent events, my spark and passion for dance have been extinguished. My students need my whole heart, not my burnout.
In a year that was filled with so much hate, I will never apologize for continuing to share my love of dance.
Dance is so much more than just a dance class. It’s not in the steps we perform, but in the lives that are being built.
It’s not just routines, eight-counts, pointed toes, shuffle-hop steps, or sparkly costumes…
….It’s about teamwork, friendship, love, support, respect, resilience, confidence, joy, and life lessons.
It’s about discipline, respect, goal setting, and time management.
It’s discovering that the times you fall or make a mistake are just as important as the times you succeed. True success comes from trying and learning lessons from your attempts.
It’s learning how to handle disappointment, working hard to achieve your goals, and celebrating progress that no one else sees.
Dance builds something inside yourself that will serve you forever.
Dancers, I hope that I have inspired you to be unapologetically, authentically, exactly who YOU are.
Don’t ever try to fit yourselves into neat little boxes.
You never have to be “just” a dancer, or “just” an athlete, or “just” a scientist, or “just” a musician, or “just” an outdoor enthusiast, or for that matter – “just” an indoor enthusiast, or “just” anything else that there is in the world (please fill in the blank).
You can simultaneously do and be so many diverse things in your life – all at the same time – and you get to make the decision.
Grow and change your mind as much as you need.
Never shrink yourself down to make others feel comfortable.
Never dim your light because of what others might think.
Walk your talk.
Lead by example.
Act consistently with your words and beliefs.
“Wear a pink sequin tutu one day.
Wear muddy cowboy boots the next.
Or, wear the tutu with the muddy boots” – or don’t.
It’s up to you to decide.
Be a dancer, be an athlete, be a scholar, be an activist, get dirty, clean up nicely, be an outdoor enthusiast, be a technology expert – all at once – if you want to.
Don’t fit yourselves into neat little boxes. Use your talent, your passion, your expertise – your BEST ABILITIES to do something that matters to the world.
In order to fulfill all that you wish in this lifetime – you must STAY HEALTHY AND STAY FIT. That’s your key to a long full life of achieving your heart’s desires. I’m confident that dance has instilled that within you.
It makes me so proud to watch my alumni, kids whom I’ve loved for years, step out into the world as strong, kind, confident women, knowing their worth, using their voice, choosing the lives that they each want to live. They’ve each taken what dance has taught them and mixed it with their own individualized purpose.
Thank you from the depths of my tired and grateful heart. Whether I’ve taught you for one year, 15 years, or everything in between. I will always consider you part of my dance family and you will always be one of my “kids”. You have truly made an indelible mark on my heart.
City of Juliaetta, thank you for providing a “home” for positive, healthy, community building youth activities for over three decades. It was a space that brought people together, where everyone was welcome, where our youth could be celebrated, where students could come to class dressed as they were, where the choreography included all abilities of dancers, where we could cheer for one another off the stage, where our community could lift each other up instead of tearing each other down.
Until this last year’s unwelcome controversy, it was a pretty great place to be.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of this incredible journey. Your support, encouragement, and presence have made all the difference. I am eternally grateful for your unwavering love for Marilou’s School Of Dance.
What’s next for me? Well, I’m headed into my 22nd year of teaching 1st grade - reading, writing, arithmetic, and everything that goes along with the Golden Rule: “Treat others the way that you wish to be treated.” The time is also long overdue for earning my Master’s Degree – something I haven’t possibly had time to undertake while running a dance studio.
Kiddos, I am so proud of all that you have accomplished and I can’t wait to see all of the amazing things you will do in the future. I am honored to have been a part of your journey. Take all of the skills and discipline that you have learned through dance and apply them to all areas of your life. Keep on dancing and chasing your dreams. I will love you forever. Shine with a uniqueness that only you possess.
Dance doesn’t just train dancers. It raises good humans, leaders, and world-changers.
