Ready or not, another year has come to an end. It is not possible for me (Aurelie) to reflect on it without the one overriding feature of losing my Dad in May. I and the rest of my family miss him very much. He was the focal point, so there is a big gap to fill. We are learning to find our way as we move forward. Thankfully I come from a large family and we have each other.
2011 did bring many wonderful moments and here are a few of our biggest highlights:
- Not only did we hold our 15th Beantown Camp, we received many comments of “best ever” and we think we agree. A gathering of many wonderful people for a week full of joy, tons of positive energy and just so much fun!
- Hop to the Beat had its 16th anniversary this September, something we find pretty amazing.
- Passing our 1 year mark in our Monday night Boston location. It is always a big challenge to start something new and we have really enjoyed our classes and the people we have gotten to know from them.
A truly phenomenal Uptown Swing dance with Gordon Webster during the Skye and Naomi weekend. The house was absolutely packed, however, what made it exceptional was how the room was on fire! Gordon surpassed himself, Naomi was incredible, she and Skye entertained and inspired us, and everyone present contributed to such an awesome, happy night. We couldn’t have ended our HTTB year any better.
A non-dance highlight was adopting our two rescue kitties, Izzy and Luna, in August. They have brought much cuteness to our home.
Something that continues to be a major force are all the fabulous people who have touched our lives through our classes, dances, camp and other activities. We are very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of your life and there is nothing that makes us happier than seeing new friendships made, smiling faces and everyone having a good time. We caught the Lindy Hop bug back in our early days and are thrilled if we can help pass that on to someone else. Neither of us could ever have imagined back when we each started dancing what it would become in our lives. It has brought us each other and so much more.
So here’s to a new year which we hope will give you all much joy, happiness and of course plenty of excellent moments dancing!
Our best to you,
Aurelie & Tony