I have come to the realization that although the internet age has opened up so many doors for us to communicate in different ways, from all over the world – it has also given us an unrealistic sense of our level of skill and understanding of how it all works.

Case and point – creating this website. 

To be clear upfront, I did not create this on my own (shout out to my fabulous and patient graphic/web designer, Steve http://believenstephen.ca/, Matilda Meyers for her amazing photography skills matilda.meyers@gmail.com and the people at Weebly http://www.weebly.com/) but after getting me a template and some basic build out options – it was up to me to dig in and make it happen.

Building the website was relatively easy, lots of drag and drop, easy to move things around etc. etc.  Aside from a few bumps of frustration and moments of pounding repeatedly on the enter key while saying “WHY. WON’T. YOU. WORK” – it was relatively painless. 

...That was until I needed it to go live…

All of a sudden, the instructions switched from things like “click here to input picture” to “DNS records to point the domain's "www" and "*" / "@" A-Records to our 199.34.228.100 IP Address”

Uhhhh, Pardon?  …..I quickly realized that perhaps I’m not as tech savvy as I would like to think…

Alas, with some carefully read instructions, two panic attacks, a fevered “please God work!” and one grueling hour of waiting for all the little internet connections to talk to each other so when searching for my site it didn’t come up saying “there is an error with your internet connection”… it magically appeared!

So here I present to you… the new website!  And I humbly ask in advance for your patience in the event that something doesn’t work as it should.  I don’t think at this point that further explanation is necessary.

I am looking forward to being able to update it myself whenever necessary, but overall, this experience offered me the insight that perhaps I should leave the web coding to the techies and stick to plies.

Unhinge Dance is a new company offering dance classes for adults from truly beginner through to advanced.  We specialize in Ballet/Contemporary and it is our mission to dispel the preconceived notions about pursuing dance training later in life.

 Having travelled to countries and cultures where dance is integral to their everyday life, it has been made clear to me that dance is not reserved only for the young, lithe and limber.  My “formal” dance training has been put to shame on more than one occasion by Grandmothers and four year olds alike.  The vibrancy, sense of sharing, community, fun and play that exudes from their dancing turned my concept of dance training upside-down and deeply impacted my approach to teaching.  I strive to bring this feeling to the company overall through every class I teach, every student I encounter, and every instructor I coach.  
 
Our classes are an opportunity to start from the absolute beginning, learn the fundamentals, ask questions, make mistakes and enjoy a laugh, all the while meeting and supporting others with the same fears, trepidations and goals.  Our beginner classes are sessional, not drop-in.  Many initially see this as an inconvenience, but quickly discover it is the key to achieving some level of comfort in the unfamiliar (you’ll get to know people in your class) as well as reaching any level of success as each week builds on the last, and the whole group is working on the same things together.  

Dance training in your adult life is a great outlet for stress, as well as an opportunity for self-expression, challenging your comfort zone and remembering what “fun” feels like.  It requires athleticism, artistry and thoughtfulness and is an incredible
opportunity to fail miserably, face no consequences and return the following week to give it another try.  
  
Our skilled, passionate and experienced teachers will be there every step of the way encouraging, enlightening, answering questions, and helping navigate around limitations and injuries.  We ourselves all have our own creeks and cracks after years of training, but know that with the right knowledge and habits, that these can often be easily managed and supported while continuing training.

My personal “BHAG” (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) with this project is simply to do whatever I can to provide anyone that wants it, an opportunity to participate in dance training.  I mean it when I say I don’t care if you have two left feet, you’ve never done it before, you think you’re too old, too out of shape, too anything.  If you want to take a dance class, and you’re
willing to commit some time, effort and trust, I will do everything in my power to help you achieve what you’re after.  
 
Classes are starting up again in September and we welcome anyone interested to join us.  Don’t let  the fear of not having the right outfit, or the fact you’ve never set foot in a dance studio before stop you.  
  
We’re here to help you, make you comfortable, and show you that you too, are a dancer.