2nd Annual Dance4Life concert at the Midvale club!

Today was an awesome day for some of our youth here in Utah. The Midvale Boys and Girls club were able to perform today for a huge audience. Spending countless hours working with the kids, teaching them dance and dance skills to prepare them for this day is unforgettable. The kids have worked really hard to get to where they are today and when I first started teaching at the club most of them didn't know anything about dance. And today they proved all of us what they are capable of. The teen group can now turn, leap, jump and choreograph their own routines. I have seen the progress and growth of the club kids and it amazes me how if you take time to get to know them, to teach them and help them to develop they will grow like flowers- they eat up everything that you give them and they will learn so fast. Through this program they have learned discipline, love , focus, competence, happiness, self- confidence and communication skills. They have also had the opportunity to perform and advocate for their program on t.v. with Big Buddha and as Miss Mount Olympus I came and spoke to a group of teens about my life experiences and was able to relate with so many of them on so many levels.
Today was a big day for the kids. Their emotions were running so high with nervousness, fear, and excitement as they performed in their big gym in front of family members, friends, community members and the rest of the club. I am so proud of what they accomplished today, the hard work they have done and how comitted they were. I am glad they stuck to the program and finished it out. Many of them don't have to finish something they start, people give up on them and or walk out so I feel this program has been really beneficial for them all.
I hope to continue this success in other clubs and get our community more involved in what is most important in this life: SERVICE!

Costa Rica

I have just returned from a fabulous trio to Costa Rica. This Trip was to implement Dance4Life for impoverished youth in the city.
I have merged with a non-profit organization called Promethean Spark. Promethean Spark is built to implement life skills through dance to impoverished youth world wide. I was fortunate enough to go to CR and see this program in action. I spent 10 days there and all of them but one was spent working with the youth, participating in dance class for hours a day, teaching them the life skills they need in order to turn their lives around. I have to say it was a true eye opening experience. One in which has changed my life and hopefully will help me to implement the things I learned in my own life. I can only say it humbled me and made me so greatful for the things we have here in our country and for the luxuries we have as individuals.
I was able to see first hand how Promethean Spark works- this organization does exactly what i have done as Miss Mount Olympus; implementing the arts for healing, change and insipiration. But PS does it at a much deeper level to teach life skills for the youth to change thier paths for the better. We worked with a group of boys from a drug and alcohol rehab center. Shaun- the founder of Promethean Spark was the teacher and I was there to get training and watch how it all works so I can then implement and set up a PS right here in Utah. But We pushed those kids for four to five hours a day, warming up, doing exercises across the floor and teaching them choreography. They learned so much in one week from Shaun. On Tues, it was the third graduation for PS in Costa Rica. This group of boys have been working in this program for three months and tues was thier final day to perform present the skills they have learned to a huge audience.
It was so fun to see the emotions of the boys on thier face and in the presence of their body. They were so proud to accomplish what they had accomplished, to recieve a certificate of completion. They new they worked hard for that day and they new what they had to do in order to get there. All of them had a light beaming from them on stage, it is hard to describe the feelings i had when i was able to watch them and see them on stage being honored for hard work, good choices and sticking to something that will change their lives. The group of boys and Promethean Spark have left an imprint on my heart and my life to be a better person, to serve others through love, support and appreciation. Words cannot describe the life lessons and experiences i had while in Costa Rica. The hard work and effort that was put into the program and teaching those boys will be unforgettable.
My vision is for this program to be apart of the Boys and Girls club here in Utah. To teach at-risk youth the same life lessons- perserverence, love of self, leadership, respect, and more... It is adiment that the world needs this program. There are so many kids out there searching for help, searching for a foundation to build off of and for a positive role model to show them they can do it. If we can do this our whole world can change with future generations and generations to come.

I did have one day to explore and sight see. The country is so beautiful, rich of green forests, and white sandy beaches with turquoise blue water... There were monkeys jumping from trees to trees, I saw a sloth and more beautiful beaches. I did get sun burned which was not planned. The city where we stayed was so much more different that what the country had to offer. But i got a true glimse of a third world country. It boggles my mind that there are so many places in this world that are all different, there are so many people, we all live differently and do things different ways. I couldnt beleive how things were set up, businesses run, or how they lock things down for security. I thought i knew alot about this world and I thought i had alot of life experiences until I went to CR and realized there is so much to see, research, and learn about.