I remember seeing the note from Performance Net over a year ago, to come and meet the wonderful Kim Davey and find out about World Class Dance Tours and a trip of a lifetime. Kim addressed a school hall full of mums, dads and children wannabes with a captivating presence and infectious passion for taking what you love (dance) and turning that into a career. Mia my daughter who was 12 years old at the time left this session in complete awe of Kim and pleading with me to let her and her sister (Ella age 10 yrs) go on this tour. Mia could not stop speaking about it for days ‘Mummy, dancing is all I’ve ever wanted to do, I want this more than anything, I’ll do chores!’.
So, mum and dad caved and we decided to take the plunge, start saving and sign up. We also decided to take my Mum – Marnie (Age 72 years) and let granny be part of the girls on tour!
To be honest, I initially thought it was going to be a bit over organised, like going on a tour group where you don’t have any flexibility to do your own thing and I was worried that for the investment, we could have put that towards a family trip. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
This trip really was the trip of a lifetime. Kim and Tiffany our guides (and now friends) were absolutely amazing. No stone was left unturned and each day was more amazing than the first. They completely exceeded our expectations – from dancing workshops (Latin, Twerking, Hip Hop, Jazz Funk), to performing on Hollywood Boulevard, to being in a live televised performance of Dancing with the Stars to dancing on the stage at Disneyland – it just kept getting better. I would recommend the trip to anyone who has boys or girls who love to dance. The workshops with professional dancers were so professional, exposing the kids to performance and dance that ‘gets under your skin’. Each session was high energy and the teaching was amazing. The children were kept busy every day, but seemed to have endless energy despite full days of dancing – easy to do when you love what you are doing with inspiring teachers.
From a personal point of view, it was such a fantastic experience to be able to take my Mum on tour as a family member. Kim and Tiff looked after her so well and included her in everything. She felt very special and thoroughly enjoyed being part of this amazing experience with her granddaughters. For her it was a trip of a lifetime and she is already trying to persuade her Mahjong group to sign up for the over 40’s trip to Rio!
Thank you Kim and Tiffany for making our time with you so rewarding, for all the organising that went in behind the scenes to make our trip seem hassle-free. Tiffany you have an amazingly positive spirit and you were such an inspiration to our girls, we miss you a lot.
Mia and Ella have built amazing friendships with everyone who went on tour, friendships to treasure and nurture for a lifetime. I’m sure we will all be planning our next tour so we can build on our first one. Thanks to Clare our amazing dance teacher at Performance Net for investing so much of yourself in coaching our children to be the best they could be. Thanks to Tracey & Mike Stretton for an incredible performance school that has exposed Mia and Ella to a wonderful family and incredible experiences – thanks for taking the risk to sign Performance Net up to the L.A. Dance Tour.
Kate Reid, Chaperone
Pform.nz, April 2017
