There has not been much going on in my life that is new
since I last wrote, so I decided to steer this month’s post in a different
direction. At the end of the summer, Larry Ippel will be retiring after close
to 40 years of working at the Academy of Movement and Music, and Momenta. He was
one of my very first dance teachers at Momenta when I started there 7 years
ago.
So, I wanted to share with you the thoughts I wrote for
him to say “Thank you” before he retired. Now that the weather is finally
becoming beautiful once again, I want to encourage all of you to grow in
whatever capacity that may mean. Whether it be learning something new for
yourself or for the benefit of others. And THANK YOU Larry for helping me to
learn and become a better dancer! I will miss you! Here is the note I wrote to
him:
It’s a beautiful thing when we dance through life, the
people we come across. One man, who has made a big influence in my life when it
comes to music and dance, as a whole is Larry Ippel. He was the first person
who choreographed for me when I started dancing at Momenta.
He made a special truck for me, so my wheelchair could fit in it while I was on stage. Larry also admired the fact that my wheelchair sat up in an upright position, so he created a cathead and it looked like I was a yawning cat as I slowly went up and down in an upright position. He has always seen the beauty in every dancer in the academy for that matter. He helped me from the start become musically aware of the counts, though I found it very difficult from the beginning to find my space on stage; he was always very patient with me because I think he knew I would eventually get it.
I am happy that I was able to improve my timing and
ability as a dancer because in the beginning I didn’t know if I could and became
frustrated at this, over the years he has helped me with choreographing ideas
to make my dances even better along with dancing in and out of my wheelchair.
For I am extremely blessed because I came to find that in dancing in and out of
my wheelchair has its own gifts and experiences, because of this I have been
able to elaborate on this when I knew this was the case.
Thank you Larry for encouraging me never to give up!
Love,
Jessi
P.S. - Tomorrow I am doing my first professional speaking gig at Hoover Math and Science Academy! I am so excited! I cannot believe it is already here!
