Time flies when you're having fun! This is my 4th year teaching at CSOD and I couldn't be happier. I mean seriously, who doesn't love coming to CSOD every day!? The best staff, positive atmosphere and not to mention the most awesome students ever,  it's a second home. A place filled with laughter, fun and energy! I've had the pleasure of working with the majority of students in the competitive program and am so pleased with the progress and hard work thats been presented on the dance floor since I've been here. With the competition season fast approaching, each week in class I always take note of how each student is developing technically and artistically. I'm constantly thinking to myself, what can I do to help these dancers bring out the best in themselves on that stage? Whether its having a chat as a group about teamwork, cleaning a routine or having a laugh or two about 'sad flowers' I strive to do what I can as a teacher to make each student feel good about themselves. Not only as dancers and performers, but also as individuals. I believe dance brings out the best in all of us which is unique because its something we all get the chance to share together as a dance family. The simplest things bring a smile to my face. That moment when someone is so excited to come to dance and show me that they almost have those middle splits down, or when after so many tries across the floor they finally get that turn without falling down. To me those are the accomplishments that make my job as a teacher feel so rewarding. Those dancers worked so hard to achieve those goals because they love to dance and they worked their butts off! As a teacher I was apart of that and encouraged them to never give up. I helped bring that joy to their lives and continue to do so with each dancer. Teaching at CSOD has been such an amazing experience for me. I'm always anxious to get into the studio week to week and see what other exciting elements are brewing on the dance floor! Students, parents and staff I want to THANK YOU for bringing me into your lives and allowing me to share my love of dance with all of you! Let's stick together as a team for this year's comp season and continue to support the gift of dance to the world.

This is Lily and Darby from the Competitive team! Among the many styles of dance we take on a weekly basis, this year we are doing a Hip Hop Duet together. When doing a duet, you have to schedule extra practices with your choreographer to complete the routine and make sure it is clean and ready to perform.  Hip Hop is a very active style of dance.  Moves have to be clean, clear and crisp. Doing a duet in this form of dance is different then any other because you can’t interact with each other easily. With lyrical it's encouraged, jazz it’s a natural thing to do and contemporary it is needed to tell a story. But someway interaction between two dancers in a hiphop duet happens whether it’s by looking at each other, doing tricks or just two best friends having fun on stage. Hiphop is a very intricate form that includes tutting, breakdancing, popping, locking and whaacking. Every dance teacher has a different style of hiphop, because of this it is challenging to compete a duet in it because your competitor can have a totally different dance than you and therefore can have elements in theirs that are better than yours.  You have to keep in mind though that there are elements in yours that are better than theirs to keep you encouraged.  We love the thrill of competing!

-       Lily and Darby 2014