It’s hard to believe that recital has already come and gone! All those months of work building technique, teaching choreography and cleaning movements, and then it’s all gone in a single weekend. Wow.
It’s always exciting to see the dancers backstage, shaking out their nerves and smiling to each other as they prepare to go out and show off all of their hard work! And then, the moment when they finally come back into the wings and the smile… it’s the best feeling ever.
It’s on that stage as young dancers that future stars are born, where the excitement for performing is ignited. It’s a special place and something that I love sharing with my students!
To see them accomplish something as simple as performing a dance that once felt challenging is a huge win for all of us. I wish sometimes that I had a chance to show them a video of what they looked like immediately after learning the choreography, because they would probably laugh! But I hope they would also be proud of much they’ve grown in such a short time.
There are a handful of my students in particular that stepped into class this year and just grew so much in a short time. I had tappers that maybe started a little bit behind their classmates, but by the time recital rolled around, they were more than keeping up. I had other dancers that were not the strongest technicians or performers in my jazz classes, but after several months of perseverance, they looked like completely different dancers on stage.
And to me, that’s what it’s all about; seeing these young people learn that they’re capable of anything! Whether it’s mastering a specific step, getting cast in a bigger role, maybe even applying and being accepted in that dream college or dream job someday; anything is possible when you give it your all.
I’m so proud of their hard work and their performances on the Selena Auditorium stage! I’m sad that we’ll be taking a break until fall (unless they come to summer classes! (If you’re my student and you’re reading this, I really hope you make it to summer classes!)), but I’ve got so many plans and ideas for the next dance season!
But as a teacher and choreographer, it sometimes feels like the culmination of all of my work, too
This year, I felt pulled in all different directions while choreographing a musical, performing in said musical, rehearsing/performing in a full length ballet, managing a knee injury, and teaching all the while. My brain was like that French fry from McDonald’s that’s probably been in the fryer all day, just slowly cooked into rock hard charcoal. Yup. My creativity was more than zapped; I don’t think there was anything left, and I still don’t feel like I’ve totally recouped after this spring. For the first time in a long time, I was a little nervous for recital!
At the same time, I had a few more challenges in class than before; students that joined partway through the year and needed to catch up, loud classes that frayed my focus a little bit, and I had to miss a few more of my classes than usual. It became a task for all of us, to find a way to get ready for recital.
Somehow, we did it! And I really mean “we”; I did the choreography and taught the class, but it took the effort and focus of my dancers to really make things happen.
Watching them go out there and dance was more emotional than ever for me, knowing the wild spring that I had gone through and that I had put them through. Things came together, and I couldn’t be prouder of them for all of their hard work! And I might be biased, but I think it really paid off for them in the end.
Check out some highlights from my dances this year below!
Musician: @iksonmusic
The 2023-2024 dance season flew by way too fast, but the growth that I’ve seen in my students (and myself!) has been monumental. I’m so proud of all of us!
Jess Hill Dances 
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