WE SAY "I LOVE YOU" AND HERES WHY:​

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We say I love you to all of our level 3 students as they leave the studio after class. There are a million different reasons for this, but let's go through a couple of the major ones.

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First and foremost, without question, we do!! These students spend a lot of time with us; we talk about them outside of the studio, celebrate their successes with them, and help them through their failures. All of these students, especially at this age, have likely spent a significant amount of time with Andrea and I, and they mean the absolute world to us.

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Second, we know that as students age, they sometimes hear that they are loved less and less. They start driving, they have crazy schedules, and they’re not in the house with you guys as much as they used to be, so they don’t have as many opportunities to be told.

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Lastly, and far more difficult for me to say: I lost two of my cousins to suicide. They were siblings, and I lost them 5 years apart—both were about this age when they passed. In honor of them, we choose to say "I love you" way more often. We want our students to know that they are loved. Even if they’re in the darkest of places, they can think of at least two people, aside from their family, who love them and care that they are here.

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That all being said, we never expect to hear it back. We know it’s weird. We’re okay with it being weird. Heck, when we first started saying it, we got a whole lot of strange looks! Every year since, when students enter Level 3 classes, we still get a whole lot of strange looks! But upper middle school and all of high school is just plain hard. We aim to make it a little easier and give them a place where they can be themselves, work on the thing they love, and be with people they love, where they know they are loved.

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SO! We love you! Thank you for being a part of our dance family or even being interested in being a part of our dance family. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives and to be there in every way that we can for your kids.

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Trevor and Andrea Ford

Owners

Center Stage Dance