Footprintz DANCE ACADEMY

 

Before the reality comes the dream...

The Dream

Ever thought you were pretty average? I did! Who would have thought that my life would pan out the way it has? Some would say it is just a fluke but I disagree. It is the hand of God directing my path.

When I was three my mum enrolled me in our local dancing school. I was just your average little dancer who didn't have the real talent for it and was definitely never going to be a prima ballerina! But I really loved my dancing and always had heaps of fun doing it.

School didn't interest me very much and I wasn't super academic. Again I was pretty average at it. And sport was never my thing (actually I really hated it), so I didn't really know what I was going to do when I grew up

Tap was my favourite type of dance, followed by classical, then jazz. As I got older I became more and more dedicated to my dancing. By the time I was fourteen I was student teaching and pretty much lived at the studio. My mum suggested that I shift my bed down there.

Around this time a series of events occurred that turned my life upside down. My Nana died in November 1994. Then in the following May my parents separated and a few months after that my cousin committed suicide. There were times when I felt like giving up on life because it all seemed too hard. But luckily I had the support from my family and people and teachers at dancing, which helped me through.

All my life I've been a Catholic, but was never really involved in church or interested; in fact I found it quite boring. But I remember being about sixteen and sitting at the back of church with this dream of one day opening my own dancing school. I wanted to name it footprints. I never really paid much attention to it thinking it was just a dream and that I wan’t good enough to open my own school.

Life rolled on and I graduated from year 12. I was working full time and teaching whenever I had a spare moment. Dancing was my life, I loved it. Not long after this I started attending River view Church. I cut back on my dancing a little bit to get more involved and to attend Bible College. It was at Church where I realised that this dream that I had could possibly be part of my destiny. Seeds and thoughts planted in me by God.

I started to question whether I could really open my own Christian base dancing school. I struggled with this question for a long time. There was always an excuse and one day I just decided it was never going to happen and gave up on the whole idea. Besides, it was just me dreaming.

But I still pondered all the time about opening my own school. Then about six month later I decided (after praying and speaking to friends and family) to give it a go. I decided I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. All I knew was that I didn’t want to wake up when I was 40 thinking 'what if I had...'

So I did it! February 23rd 2002 Footprintz Dance Academy opened. On my first day I had about twelve students and it was brilliant. I’m very blessed. I started with my own studio at the back of my Aunty’s dance shop. The school is growing every week and I have BIG goals and dreams for it. I want to impact and change the face of dancing schools in Perth, outreach through my dancing school and touch those people who have not yet met their maker.

Don't despise the day of small beginnings. All I can say is 'you ain't seen nothing yet!'

Miss Jennifer Powell
(Written in 2003, for the book '31 Girl' by 'Mary Simpson')