Raising the Curtain

Today we raise the curtain on the Ensemble Performing Arts Studio and finally show everyone what all of our late nights, early mornings, and long weekend hours have built. There are still details to finish: marley that needs to be laid (tomorrow), mirrors that need to be installed (Thursday), painting that needs to be touched-up (this task is never-ending), but the programs and website are ready to launch and we are looking forward to opening up and beginning tours tomorrow!

The past three months have been an adventure I could’ve never imagined. When I first mentioned to my family and close friends that I was considering opening my own school, I fully expected the response to abject shock and horror, followed by a mad-dash to talk me out of it. Instead, I found myself met with a chorus of very calm voices saying things like, “We’ve been waiting for you to do this for years,” in tones that made me feel like I should’ve somehow already known that. So, I did what anyone would do when they’re about to make a life-changing decision: I called up my local pessimists hoping they’d talk me out of it. No such luck. They thought it was a great idea. So then came the hard part: the only person left to convince was myself.

The road to this day has not been an easy one. Someday, I’ll share the stories of how I almost missed out on 683 Main Street, how our grace-period of Memorial Day weekend was squandered due to an ill-timed shoulder injury, how the shipping company lost my 1,500-pound crate of plywood FOR 10 DAYS (which, I’m obviously no longer angry about). But, we made it. 

As a teacher, I find myself wanting to offer some small nugget of semi-sage advice to my students. But, I find myself once again a novice in my own life with much to learn and much to grow from – a daunting thought made only slightly less terrifying by the fact that I have the rest of myself in which to do it. So, I will just say this: Don’t ever assume you know what tomorrow looks like. Life is full of surprises. Welcome them.

To all those who picked up a paint brush, picked up a mop, or picked up a phone: I can never tell you what your support has meant to me. It is, in many ways, the foundation on which Ensemble was built.

There’s more to say and more people to thank (I haven’t even yet acknowledged that my dad and Dan spent Father’s Day building a sprung subfloor… yes, I have a fully sprung subfloor… this is not the last you’ll be hearing about it), but I think I heard a voice somewhere in the recesses of my mind calling “places”, so…

Here we go… 

5, 6, 7, 8…