Happy New Year!!

New year, new look, new opportunities. I love the summer holidays… mostly because I’m a summer-baby at heart. But I love the feeling of being re-energised, refocused and revitalised that only a holiday can bring.

This year, I wanted to really boost everything about Dance Domain. I am so, so proud of the studio, its strong and positive culture, and the community of respectful, inspiring and creative individuals that make Dance Domain the awesome place that it is.

So this year, I’ve committed myself to making the studio the best place it can be and to give our students, families, and teachers the best environment and experiences.

… which means…

STUDIO MAKEOVER!!!

Now, anyone that knows me would know I’m not the tidiest kid on the block. Never have been, never will – scrap that…I’m going to try at least!

I’ve just finished up 4 days straight at the studio, and PHEW! I am over it!

It all began with the thoughts of our upcoming Active Arts Holiday Workshop. Our awesome workshoppers get to paint the studio walls as one of their activities… and therein lay the problem.

We’d run out of space!

Since moving into the studio in 2013, 4 years of workshops have seen our boring blank white wall develop into the most colourful and exuberant expression of joy and community.

 

I loved every inch of that thing. I loved the names, the handprints, the pictures, the patterns, and the spelling. I could tell you that Saskia painted that purple arrow above. That Rosie drew the Wreck it Ralph “Sugar Rush” inspired scene. I could tell you that was Phoebe that painted the city and its underworld scene. I can tell you the chronological ordering of Emily’s paintings.

Yes, I even loved the part that said “Poo is cool” (thanks Maddie and Zoe haha).

After much deliberation, I’d decided it was time to start fresh. So I called in the troops. Aka, Jack and my dad.

Here’s a video of the first coat. 

Now, when I uploaded this to Instagram I had instant regret… I’d never seen so many sad, crying, wailing, disappointed emojis in my life. 🙁

BUT, the wonderful Emily summed it up perfectly in this little gem of a post.

 

… awwww. TBH I almost cried when I read this. I was devastated. Maybe I had made a HUGE mistake.

As I painted I was watching years and years of memories begin erased. And in a horrible and beautiful way, all of our student followers on Instagram kept saying the same thing! The horror! The sweet, beautiful, community-minded and history-aware horror!

Meanwhile… we had to do another 2 coats of paint because the little paintings just kept on bleeding through! It seems they weren’t going without a fight haha. Note to future self/anyone else that is trusting enough to let a bunch of kids at your wall with some paint… DON’T USE WATER BASED PAINTS!…those little handprints Emily had mentioned just kept on seeping through. Strangely, the poo pictures did not.

Today I sat back and looked at the completed studio. Tidy, organised, white, clean …
I HATE IT! … ok, well, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but it doesn’t feel right.

It’s not home.

It’s lost something.

Don’t get me wrong, it looks amazing. But it isn’t me.

It isn’t Dance Domain.

But before I could get to disheartened, Jack reminded me of the reason why I began this process in the first place… to make space for new-gen art!

With a workshop just 11 days away, I know that the imagination of our awesome students will take the walls from boring and white, to joyful and bright, and make our studio feel like home again.

So here’s to a new generation of art, expression, and colour… and to a much tidier studio in 2017!