It feels like a year’s worth of events have happened these past 30 days or so… I am exhausted and slightly delirious but at the center of it all, I’m very grateful and inspired.
It still hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m very proud to announce that our Kickstarter fundraising campaign was a success! The home base to the Mini BREAKS classes A.K.A. The Massive Monkees Studio, “The Beacon” is here to stay!!!!
THANK YOU ALL for your support in making this happen! Whether by spreading the word or making a contribution, our success would NOT be possible without YOU!!!!
This has been a long month – a month filled with hope, joy, community, heartbreak and anxiety. Dance-wise, there were many shows, Mini BREAKS classes and a new middle school class, workshops, leading dances in a park, celebrity story time, battles, and even a surprising keynote speech at a moving conference! Meanwhile at home, my little one kept growing at lightning-speed, almost wrapping up first grade, and the pile of clothes, dishes and take-out containers kept growing into a quiet, small hillside in our Beacon Hill apartment.
In the midst of all this – in the middle of the fundraising craziness, literally in the middle of rehearsal for a show, I met a young b-boy who was at death’s doorstep, and he put everything in perspective for me.
He was a connection I missed, someone I could have reached. He forced me to ask myself, “What could I have told him, that might have kept him out of this situation?!” I felt so angry and helpless, filled with grief as a parent, as a teacher, as an artist.
I urgently wanted to figure out how I could keep all the children, all the people in my community from losing hope and thinking there’s nothing in life worth living for. And as I worked on a speech for a glowing group of young people in Portland last week, I figured out what I have to do for the rest of my life – to do my best to connect with each person I meet, to share my dance, to share hip-hop and my experiences, my struggles and successes, to let people around me know they are not alone. Quite simply, that is my goal from now on.
I am so happy that The Beacon is sticking around. That will be the place where people I know/meet can find me. People who might want to dance, who might want to express themselves, who might feel alone, who might need some help. I, as a teacher, as a dancer, as a mom, as a friend, will be available at The Beacon. If someone needs me, they’ll know where to find me.
Because The Beacon will stay where it is, there is a place where I can be found. I thank all of you for allowing that.
XO: Anna Banana Freeze aka fidesflytrap
