Waterloo Public Library Digital Collections

Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, On1868), 8 Jun 1988, p. 8

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PaAGE B â€" "Well, it seems a little magic didn‘t work today." You did not take the words right out of my mouth, Ms. Andrews, as a matter of fact, you have only taken half of the words out of my As "director/originator" of Bojangles Dance Studio, I feel I must set the record straight. I have never apologized for any creative doing on my part be it good or bad, for I believe that it is all in the eye of the beholder, and so far I have been extremely proud of both the students and my endeavors in dance including this year‘s As you are already aware, Ms. Andrews, I played the part of the Fairy Godmother who Cinderella on Sunday afternoon was running extremely smooth and, I might add, was being well received, until the very last number "Getting Married in the Morning" upon which a volunteer parent who runs my sound equipâ€" ment accidentally put the tape in on the wrong The students waiting for their cue to begin their number naturally received nothing but dead air for approximately 30 seconds (alâ€" though to my sound technician and myself, it painstakingly seemed like 30 minutes). Not Show wasn‘t a Broadway musical I am writing you this letter in response to the recent critique of the Bojangles Musical Proâ€" duction that I read in your paper recently. I have two children who are regular students at Bojangles and do participate in this yearly production. I was very disappointed with the review that was approved for print as I felt that the journalist was taking unfair shots at Margo Smith and the Bojangle Studio. I am not aware of any other dance studio that puts on a production like this and I personally commend Margo and all the senior students for attempting to present a musical like this. I think that the writer of this article should have been present when the rehearsals were taking place several days prior to the first show. All the dedicated students, parent volunteers and Margo were busy trying to control hunâ€" dreds of very excited children in a very confined area. I give Margo, the students and all the volunteers full marks for this production because I know if I had to coordinate a production with that many youngsters, the musical would never have become a reality. I believe it takes very special people to care enough and work hard enough to do what Margo and her staff do year in and year out and all the comments of your article did not touch on the meat of the show. The show is for the kids, the parents and the grandparents. I have a three and a sixâ€"yearâ€"old and for three days prior to the show all they did was talk aays.prior to the show ali Liey did was LGTR about the upcoming performance and wore their costumes around the house. The exciteâ€" ment on their faces and the looks of the very proud relatives in the crowd are the reason for this show. Your writer completely missed that and instead preferred to review this as a Broadway musical. At the end of the final production Who says magic didn‘t work? WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY JUNE 8, 19se "amateur students" that you would have thought nothing happened. If anyone needs to apologize, Ms. Andrews, it is you for having misinformed not only the unwary readers of the Chronicle but the editor of the paper as well. It is you, Ms. Andrews, who tried to "fool them" with only half the truth. I have no idea where you have received your information about my "dance empire," but it is abruptly at any ungiven moment as I had run out of tape when taping the song! I informed a now frazzled technician to stop the tape so that we may do it right. Keeping in line with both my character and the flow of the show I felt it very appropriate to appear on stage and say, "It seems a little magic didn‘t work today. We‘re going to do it over again," upon which the audience chuckled and applauded. The number was redone, and I might add was done with such a professional quality from knowing what to do and fearing we brought the wrong tape, my technician slapped in a rough copy of the song and the show continued. During this brief continuation we realized the tape was put in the wrong side! To complicate things more, the copy tape which when Margo made the announcement of the Chronicle‘s review with her crackling voice and watering eyes, it was clear that your writer was definitely not the journalist of the day. My protest to this article was in writing this letter to you and refusing to pay the 50° for the Chronicle paper at my home this week. In closing, Mr. Campbell, I would like to say, Margo and staff, my hats off to you for a job very well done and I look forward to next year‘s production. The spirit grows stronger every year Regarding your article from last week‘s edition June 1 about Bojangle‘s dance show, tears came to my eyes. The magic might have been gone according to the article, but to us, the performers from Bojangle‘s, the magic was there not only for the teachers and us but to our sold out spectators It was the greatest show ever. The choreographers/teachers Margo Smith, Kathy Ostrom, Lois Blair, and Linda Wood, made this show special with energy and devotion. Hang in there Kahhil Calder (Junior Mister Dance of Western New York) The article mentioned your dance dynamic was weak, what a mistake. It should have read it‘s great. Good luck in Texas, Kahhil and Colleen. You‘re great, you work hard and I can even see that as a dance student. Unfortunately, to the person who wrote the article, it was quite obvious she knew nothing about dance. I think the beauty of this learning experience is to encourage and support our students and give each other a positive outlook. P.S. My kids are still smiling!!! Dan Putnam Waterloo, Ont. entirely inaccurate. I would have to be a fool to believe that I even have achieved an empire in a business where personal contact and dedicaâ€" tion remain the key to success. It is true that we have gained "regional and national repute" in the dance field, but again, so have many other personal colleagues of mine due to hours and hours of hard work by both our staff and students. I am in the business because I was born into it, coming from a family as an only child where my mother taught dancing as a means of support. It is what I know best! Having first taught in my own school at the age of 14 for 25 cents a lesson, it is true, I have come a long way from teaching in a recreation hall to a beautiful new studio which I designed and, I might add, But believe me, Ms. Andrews, it certainly is not "cushy." If I wanted "cushy" I would have stayed in my old building until my "cushy" lease had run out! The only problem was that my old studio was a definite hazard to my students and parents because of a horrendous parking and traffic problem. I did not want to be responsible for the accident of one of my students by the everâ€"increasing busy traffic of Bridgeport Rd. Our move was only based on the The spirit in the Bojangle‘s Company grows stronger every year. e â€" Bad review blackened their efforts I would like to comment on the article written by Coral Andrews concerning the Bojangles show. There were several hundred children involved in the show and all performed admirâ€" ably. However, Ms Andrews felt compelled to criticize the instructors, main performers and even the fiveâ€"yearâ€"olds who performed to the best of their abilities. As parents, all we expect of our children is to perform to the best of their abilities and Ms Andrews has blackened their efforts and offered little in the way of encourâ€" agement. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the show and I suggest that if Ms Andrews cannot review the show objectively, keeping in mind they are children, that in the future she not attend. To the staff and students of Bojangles, thank you for an enjoyable show and we are already looking forward to next year‘s performance. Critic‘s not consistent with remarks Well, Ms. Andrews, maybe it‘s time you dusted off your old books and brushed up a bit on the journalism! Please correct me if I‘m wrong, but isn‘t objectivity the name of the game? It looks to me as though you may have picked up some bad habits, maybe reading the Enquirer. Is that where you picked up the little Melinda Gastmeier Waterloo Kitchener, Ont. intent of safety for my clientele. As far as a spacious new studio, it is in fact smaller, and, I might add, forced me to limit my enrollment as I went from three studios to two stucios. It was a tough decision but one I am now immensely happy with. By the way, Ms. Andrews, was your observation on my "dance empire" based upon mere speculation because to my knowledge you have never been in my studio. Clearly, you did not do your research before so hastily printing your article. As far as your opinion on this year‘s show, I appreciate the criticism and although many have told me that it was one of our best shows, I assure you that being the kind of person I am in "striving for perfection,‘ I have and will continue to seriously consider your words! I only wish that you had provided me with enough concrete evidence as to what was missing this year. I am amazed that you did, however, have the ability to objectively pick out students from group numbers and credit them with a wonderful job, when they did the same thing as their classâ€" mates in the routines, or was it simply because they were the students whom you personally recognized? How sad for the other children who I feel danced equally as well and were obviousâ€" ly unwatched by your "magic‘ eye! You write that ability is the key word! Please read my opening monologue in the program from ‘I can‘t stress enough that there are many children whose ability is not that easy to come by but the love of dance and performing is.‘ We, as teachers and parents, place too much emphasis on ability and not enough on the enjoyment of the art. I assure you, Ms. Andrews, we all enjoyed ourselves, including the majority of the audience. I am so sorry that you were unable to sit back and allow these children to warm your heart with their sense of enjoyment as they have warmed mine for the past eight years. Margo Hartleyâ€"Smith trick of taking one‘s words out of context? Speaking on behalf of a hardworking crew, both on and offstage, I‘d like to set the story straight and make a few comments about the review of Bojangles 1988 annual production. The apology made during the Sunday afternoon performance was for an unexpected technical difficulty. In an attempt to keep in character and keep the show flowing, the Fairy Godmother, aka. Margo Smith, said in her character‘s voice, "Well, I guess a little magic didn‘t work today. We‘re going to do it again." It, in this case, was referring to one number in the show. As a dance student entering my third year at the University of Waterloo, I feel criticism is healthy and can be helpful, if it is done well. One thing that has me confused in Ms. Andrews‘ review is the fact that something was missing from the show. That something, she claims, is magic. As I look back at the tapes of previous shows and the criticisms we received from Ms. Andrews for these shows, her point becomes less and less valid. This year‘s Rockette kickline was simply "... thrown in for good measure", whereas in our 1986 show, Cleaning Up Broadway, the same kickline (seen in many more routines that year) was "breathtaking‘". The babies in their bikiâ€" nis undeniably stole the show, as did our Twinkle Stars in 1983, and the "irresistible" bunnies in 1986. Ms. Andrews is absolutely correct in saying that this is "nothing new" â€" it‘s not, nor was it two years ago or five years As for our "mediocre" choreography, that‘s one person‘s opinion; however, that one opinion does not say much for the local dance communâ€" ity, nor dance throughout Ontario or Western New York, seeing as we have won numerous first place standings in all these areas. Yet through all of this, seeing that Ms. Andrews is not truly a dance critic, who can blame her for not really reporting it as it was! Waterloo, Ont. P.8. I am a fullâ€"time tap and jazz instructor at Waterloo, Ont.

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