If you're wondering how the media craziness is going...

...things have very much calmed down. I'm still waiting for clips from CTV and 519 online to be uploaded to the Media section of the Impact Movement website.

I have some great pics to come from the Choreographers Snow Ball. The top shot is the beginning and yes we rocked blindfolds! The shot below is our final pose after we danced our hearts out. There were some phenomenal dance numbers, I was so excited to see so many forms of dance all in one place.

Now things finally get a little quiet as all of us at Impact spend some time with our families over the Christmas season. Then before we know it, January is here and we kick it back into high gear preparing for another great year at The Total Woman Show (http://www.totalwomanshow.com/).

Stay tuned for great pics and maybe a little hint at our performance at The Total Woman Show!

If you're wondering how funny Karma is...

...I just happened to find myself at a house party with 91.5 The Beat on-air personality Mr. D. I gave him a quick run-down of my idea for festivus for the rest of us and he really loved it and sais he'd try to help if possible. He also gave me the promotions director's contact information.
I have finally just completed my pitch and am sending it off tomorrow.

CTV did film our Hoop Fit class and unfortunately I was not able to find a link to the online clip. The .wmv file will soon be available on our webpage for you to check out. I have also heard back from CTV and The Waterloo Region Record who are both finalizing their schedule for covering the torch run, so I will have to follow up later.

Oh and of course, during the middle of all of this we got a request from 519 Online (www.519online.com) for an interview for a piece they're doing on fitness. I watched the finished clip a few days later and I was impressed with how natural I appeared on camera. Again, we hope to have the clip on the website soon.

Impact Movement is now participating in the Choreographer's snow ball Dec 10, so I will have some pics to post soon.


As always-stay tuned.

If you're wondering how short my to list is...

...it's now getting very short. It's been a while and I've been busy trying to confirm a time with CTV to film our Hoop Fit class. I tentatively have Monday November 9th booked in, pray that real news doesn't cut into our filming time! In the meantime I've finished my pitch regarding local Olympic torchbearer(and friend) Kristin McKellar and have sent it to The Waterloo Region Record and CTV.

I'm also going to try to help do some more studio related writing. At Imapct Movement we currently have a monthly newsletter which is one page and covers studio news, events and fun things like healthy recipe's. We will hopefully be expanding the newsletter to 2 pages to create a teacher of the month profile page. The idea will be to help customer better connect with their teachers and attend thier classes.

Since I have CTV handled, Kristin pitched and just Festivus left to pitch...I'm having a few less things to do...dare I even say it? Rest? We have the Total Women's Show again this year and I hope to perfom with the group as well as man our booth when I'm not performing.

Stay tuned for more info on where and when you can catch our CTV Clip.

If you're wondering what's left to do...

...very little. I have sent off my pitch to Cognition Magazine and recieved a reply that the information I submitted will be kept on record for the future. Not quite what I had hoped for but they are a new publication and might still want to do some tweaking as to what they will and won't cover, hopefully including Impact Movement. I've also created and sent off the Hoop Fit pitch and awaiting results from CTV.

Since the Olypmic torch run has had some problems in its first leg (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/29/bc-olympic-flame-island-arrival.html ), I am pushing up the media relations work I am doing with Kristin McKellar. I hoping for her to get some media coverage now to help build some support around the torch run throught Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge.

As promised, here's the link to the published story about Impact Movement in Spoke (http://www2.conestogac.on.ca/conestoga/servlet/Controller?service=edu.conestoga.web.spoke.Spoke&target=/web/spoke/news/view_story_news.jsp&NewsID=1002207&mode=viewSpokeNews ).

Now on to trying to create a festivus for the rest of us with 91.5 the beat, then lots of well deserved rest.

Stay tuned...

If you're wondering why I keep believing

I sent the pitch, I had faith and I just finished sending an email to a journalist for Spoke, the official newspaper of Conestoga College. I was able to answer questions about the benefits of dance as a form of fitness which is part of an article in the October 19th 2009 edition. After this, I will be pitching to Cognition (http://www.cwrns.com/), a new magazine that "where truth meets edge and artistry. Our magazine will examine the region, showcase its business’ and tell the stories that make this region a success." What could be more appropriate than a story about a business that took a chance on a interesting and sometimes questionable idea and turned it into one of the most sucessful businesses in the region? Then a pitch about the hula hoop class, still trying to make a festivus for the rest of us and trying to help one of our instructors/olympic torch bearers make some headlines too...

It's gonna be a busy one, so stay tuned for results!

If you're wondering where the time went...

...that's ok, so do I. It seems like just a week or two ago that the show had wrapped up and I was rehearsing for the last Impact Performance show at Bobby O'Briens. Shortly after our performance series at Bobby O'Briens ended, I fell sick with Laryngitis and have spent time resting and recovering. I did promise some pictures from the show, so please enjoy. The top picture is hip hop teachers Marie Laramee and Greg Rattray in the middle of their duet. The second picture is a group shot of a beautiful contemporary routine done to Lifehouse's "Storm."

Now that all that performing is out of the way, it's time to get back to work. I've just finished writing a pitch for Conestoga College's Spoke newspaper (http://www2.conestogac.on.ca/conestoga/web/spoke/index.jsp). Spoke has covered Impact's activities for many years but last year they did not and I don't intend to let them forget how interested Conestoga students are in Impact Movement. In the meantime I am also working hard to make sure we have 10 ft pole ready so I can accomplish my festivus for the rest of us!

Stay tuned...

If you're wondering how the show went...

...a little bit crazy but still fabulous 'til the end. The Gig Music Hall was not able to complete renovations to its stage in time for our show, so we had to change the venue to the Country Hills Community Centre. It was a better venue, as it had better lighting, a closer seating arrangement but was still big enough to hold all of the attendees, dancers and show staff comfortably. I'm still waiting on pictures to post and the DVD's to be finished. DVD'S are only $15 and can be purchased by contacting the studio via email (impactmovement@bellnet.ca) or phone at 519-579-1559.

So is that all there is? Absolutely not! While the dancers rest their feet and fix the injured parts of thier bodies, I will be hard at work trying to get our portable pole taller so I can use of the Christmas time. A pole at Christmas...why?

Well last year 91.5 the beat decided to honour Festivus by having callers call in and air their grievances, a festivus tradition. Some of the other Festivus traditions include the feats of stregnth and putting up the aluminum pole. I decided some of these traditions were a little outdated. So how do you modernize? How about feats of stregnth on a pole? We could have an in-studio lesson, which would also make for some great pictures. Listeners could swing by to watch as well, which might help the toy drive they have around that time of year.

So will there be a Festivus for the rest of us?

Stay tuned...

If you're wondering where I disappeared off to

Things went a little crazy and sadly my blog took a backseat to other priorities. On the brightside, the Dancing for Donations Event was a success and the combined efforts of everyone throughout various events helped to raise $20, 800. The other organization involved with the project, Elephant Thoughts was so touched by the efforts that they donated $20, 000 of their own money and the combined $40,800 will be enough money to build the school.

In studio related news, most of the time spent has been spent on perfoming (yes, myself included). In the above pictures are the most group at the Elements Bridal Ball put on The Wedding Ring (http://www.theweddingring.ca/). We have also have a series of several perfomances on the patio of Bobby O' Briens. In the second picture, the ladies in the Lady Marmalade number felt a little saucy when posing for their picture at the dress rehearsal.

The newest, exciting event for the studio is a Performance Showcase. After being voted the Readers Choice Best Dance Studio, we decided to show off what we do best in our first ever student showcase. I am scheduled in two numbers and I am so excited to be performing again! If you would like some more information on the event, you visit the website at http://www.impactmovement.ca/ or the facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1068450240797&f=1&e=-12#/event.php?eid=97528369454

Hope to see you there!

If you're wondering about this years clothing swap

We've now set the date for May 3 from 2-5 pm but of course we're happy to take clothing donations earlier than that. Based on the picture, it looks like someone got a great find at last year's swap... see what treasures await you! I'm also now got my hands full trying to blast to as many media outlets as possible on top of school and other projects.

One of the other projects I'm working is helping my friend Sarah Willet promote her participation in a 15 hour performance marathon. The event is being sponsored by Centarui Performing Arts Camp in order to raise money to build a school in Bunkulung Nepal, where the currently school only teaches up to grade 5. If you want to donate, please visit http://www.centauri.on.ca/marathon/team.htm.

There are other ways to help, listed on the facebook event page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=63498211388.

If you're wondering what's new with the studio

We have now added Pilates and Cardio Kick classes. Our Pilates is intense and a little more aerobic focused than most traditional Pilates classes. Turning your body into a lean, mean toning machine is just fine by me (and the people who keep coming in to take the class). Our Cardio Kick, is similar to boxercise in a bootcamp style. I took it last Thursday and it was awesome! The class is still small now, so there's more opportunity for personal attention.

Now that spring is aroud the corner it also means that it't time to think about our annual clothing swap. Last year we hundred of items collected for Anselma House and with a bigger studio to hold more clothes, I'm sure we can double it! Stay tuned for more details...

If you're wondering how the shows went

The wedding show was great! The owner and I talked with many brides as well as promoters of other wedding services. The Total Woman Show was great,too! We must have spoken with close to 1500 people. We also had two performances on Saturday and Sunday, which were composed of part Bollywood and part chair dance. Sundays performance had some technical errors with the music but the ladies pulled it off beautifully. Here are some pictures of our talented performers.

If you're wondering how the show is coming...

...wonderfully! We're now offering an demonstration on Bollywood and chair dancing at the total womens show. This will also give us more people to speak with potential customers, they can ask questions about what can be expected when they take one of our classes, etc. We just finished 91.5 the beat's Diva Nite for charity at the Rude Native Bistro and if I can get some pictures, I'll post them. I'm also busy with preparations for the Boutique Bridal Show tomorrow and Thursday night(http://www.theboutiquebridalshow.com/). Here's to my next post with all my stories from the wedding show.

If you're wondering why things are a little quiet

The studio team are focusing our efforts on a more face to face approach by purchasing a table at the Total Women's Show http://www.totalwomanshow.com/. I am now trying to pull materials for our display and trying to figure out how to make it more interactive. I also want to make sure that there are enough people to man our booth. By using a face to face approach with potential customers, we can better sell our services, answer questions and overcome obstacles that might make new customers hesitant. My student life blog is coming out this week, you can check it out at http://www.conestogac.on.ca/studentLife/blogs.jsp.

If you're wondering why you always have to pay attention!

I can't believe that I missed such a minor detail. On the CTV local news the announcer said a "women in a downtown Kitchener dance studio..." When I reviewed the footage online, the announcer said " a group of women in Ontario" This means that the footage was likely used on several of the CTV partner stations, which makes this story the biggest coverage one of my stories has recieved. Yay, yay, yay and a million times more yay.

If you're wondering where the link is

After much searching, near tears and nail biting, I managed to find the link to the Santa Baby piece that just aired.

www.watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/sitting-pretty/clip#124295

The clip should be uploaded onto the studios site soon, it can then be found under In Action section on the website . The news didn't specifically mention the studio so in the future I will have to make sure to stress to the media that the studio is either the only one doing it or we were the first one doing it. This will help ensure more exposure for our studio and subsequently less exposure for the others. Tonight is also the eve of the return to school, which means the start of personal blog about life as a student.