Hosanna Dance Newsletter
Fall Edition 2024 ∙ 119 N Deadwood St ∙ Ft Pierre
It has been a summer of surprises for Hosanna Dance. Ms. Sunny fractureds her upper left femur which kept her from participating in the June workshop at Dance Gallery in Sioux Falls. Ms. Sunny worked on physical therapy and getting her leg healed so she could travel to the Cecchetti teachers Seminar in Holland, MI, in July.
Mr. Josh and Ms. Sarah attended the Dance Gallery summer intensive along with four dance students, Hannah, Shawnie, Kourtney, and Hadassah. The students got to perform at the end of the week and enjoyed all of the classes as well as various evening outings. Mr. Josh and Ms. Sarah finally took their Grade V Elementary teacher's exam this summer, even with Ms. Sarah's injuries. We are so thankful that Ms. Jackie in Sioux Falls coaches and mentors all of us Pierre teachers and advanced dancers. South Dakota and the Northern Plains area is blessed to have her.
Mr. Josh, Ms. Sarah, and Ms. Sunny attended the CCA's International Summer School Teacher's Course July 21-27, in Holland, MI. The 930 mile trip was broken up by many stops to walk at gardens, arboretums and scenic overlooks. While at Hope College, where the CCA holds these events, Ms. Sunny put her cane away while dancing off to the side. Ms. Sarah also marked or watched when necessary while Mr Josh went for it out on the floor.
The CCA teacher seminar was running concurrently with the CICB (Cecchetti International Classical Ballet) competition hosted this year by the CCA. The competition was one of the many reasons for attending the summer teacher's course. We were able to see Becca Brusven compete in the CICB Competition. This is a very special experience as the CICB competition is only held every three years and in various countries around the world (almost like the Olympics) 😉. There are dancers sent from all of the different Cecchetti societies. This year the UK, Canada, South Africa and Australia were able to send dancers.
In addition to our lovely Becca, there were two more South Dakota dancers from Dance Gallery in Sioux Falls that qualified to participate. They all had to learn a lot of material for the challenging classes they had to present on stage as part of the overall adjudication process. We are so thankful that Ms Jackie was able to help coach Becca through all the many aspects involved in such a big endeavor. Becca received a couple scholarships and the dancers learned to network during the gala and received even more interest from various ballet representatives.
Becca was recently able to officially announce that she has received a spot at Kate Simmons Dance, a prestigious dance college in England. Becca says, "I'm so thankful for this next step in my dance career and for this amazing opportunity!" She will be very close to some of her favorite ballet companies in the world. Hint: look up Marianela Núñez and share something you learn.
Her words of encouragement for younger dancers are, "that dancing is supposed to bring joy to not only the viewers but the dancers as well. Remember to not look at mistakes as failure, but instead look at them as another way you can learn and grow."
Becca will also be able to continue working on Cecchetti diploma, the final and highest of the exams. It is like getting your PhD in ballet. While she has already been able to teach a little ballet and modern, in addition to assisting classes, she will be able to continue her professional development through KS Dance. While studying and dancing at Kate Simmons Dance, there will also be opportunities to audition for companies and productions including the touring company associated with Kate Simmons school.
Meanwhile, what will we be doing here at home? We will be cheering her on as we begin to prepare for our spring show of “He Lives In You” Lion King adaptation. Go Becca!
Performances will not be until April 25 & 26, 2025 so we will have a lot of time to work on our technique, a continuous process.
Check out the calendar page for important dates for the 2024/2025 dance season.
