"Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart." ~Ecclesiates 5:19-20
We have been on the tour in Florida for almost a week now and though not very long, I am looking forward to returning back to Jackson MS for some good R&R. This past week has been packed with performances and especially workshops. Today on this drive day heading home, is one of the first times I find myself with some free time, so I thought I'd use it to write a blog entry and fill you all in on this past week's happenings!
Ballet Magnificat Alpha's first destination was Cape Coral, Florida. We arrived there Wednesday. When we arrived the first thought that went through my mind was "Where is the coral!?" Our sponsor informed me that most of the coral that Cape Coral is named after is found in the ground. ^_^ Even though there was no visible coral, I thought it was a beautiful place! When we got off the bus, we were greeted by the warm shining sun and the friendly smiling faces of the people from Maranatha School of Dance & the Arts. I ended up having the wonderful opportunity of staying with the owners of Maranatha Dance, Amy and Andrew, who were also our sponsors for this location. They were absolutely the sweetest! I SO enjoyed getting to know them and hearing about their heart for their school. During our time in Cape Coral, we held a dance workshop at Maranatha Dance. I taught a conditioning class and also participated in a Question and Answer session with the students. The students were fantastic. The workshop went very well.
Ballet Magnificat workshop ballet class at the Maranatha School of Dance and the Arts
Conditioning Class
dancers working on their stretching
us with the sweet students
Striking a pose!
On Thursday we had a performance not far from Cape Coral in the Fort Myers area at the Village Church located at the Shell Point Island Retirement Community. Let just talk about this retirement community for a moment. It has its OWN island! It has its OWN dolphins and manatees! It is beautiful! It was AMAZING! I can only pray that God will give my parents the opportunity to retire at some place as nice as this! Yup.
Our time on the island was so fun and performing for the elderly at the Village Church was so special.
Shell Point Island Retirement Community; The flat hexagon shaped building is the church where we performed at image source
Pictured here is our own Josh Wise. He danced the role of Pharaoh; The first time in history it has been danced by someone other than the legendary John Vandervelde. What an honor! Josh did a great job, and standing next to him is a local volunteer, Josh's first 'Pharoah's son/dead boy actor' ^_^
A few of us with our sponsor's adorable children after our performance!
On Friday, Mercy Steps School of Dance and the North Florida Ballet Theater worked together to bring us in for a performance at The Springs Church in Jacksonville. All these people were so hospitable and nice! We had so much help from them with unloading our trailer. I barely lifted a finger, and they were so eager to assist us with anything we needed! It was a huge blessing! The Mercy Steps School of Dance had a group of their dancers perform a piece before us to open the night, and it was jaw-droppingly-amazing! I was thoroughly impressed with their physicality and artistry! Christian dance enthusiasts need to check these people out!
The show went well! God was exalted high that night through Mercy Steps as well as through our presentation of The Arrival and Deliver Us. The weekend to follow we kept very busy! We held several different dance workshops around Jacksonville at three specific locations: Mercy Steps School of Dance, North Florida Ballet Theater, and Village Dance Center. And in all of our free time we enjoyed fellowshipping with these Jesus-loving, like-minded people! Teaching beginner ballet is my specialty which I did a fair amount of, but I also got to lead a creative worship class too, which is always fun! Hopefully, the students in my creative worship class left loving Jesus more than they did coming in!
My group of ballet beginners at North Florida Ballet Theater
Meeting new people on tour...
...is the BEST PART of tour!
The Alpha Company visiting with Hannah, former Trainee with Ballet Magnificat and current teacher at Village Dance Center
Reunited with some good friends in Jacksonville, on Super Bowl Sunday!
Last photos snapped; saying goodbye to our friends at NFBT and Mercy Steps before our departure.
Being silly!
We had a FANTASTIC time on this Florida tour! Great relationships were made horizontally, and hopefully relationships deepened vertically. We are headed to Knoxville, TN this coming weekend for a performance of The Arrival and Deliver Us on Saturday! Click Here for Tickets! And if you did not get a chance to catch us in Cape Coral or Jacksonville, we will be returning to Florida at the end of the month, performing in Lakeland on the 24th; tickets HERE!
Thanks for all your prayers and support!
& for reading my blog!
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Until next time, Peace and Blessings in Christ Jesus!
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