Karen Blumenthal of Dallas: Janie, our mentor
From Dallas Morning News, June 1, 2008
Karen Blumenthal of Dallas is a former Dallas Morning News editor and the author of several books, including "Grande Expectations: A Year in the Life of Starbucks' Stock." Her e-mail address is karen.blumenthal@sbcglobal.net.
Seventeen years ago, as a naïve young parent, I made a decision that would change the course of our family's life. I sent my daughter to dance class.
This was not in my grand plans. My two girls were supposed to play basketball or maybe soccer, not tiptoe in tights. But my older child, then 3, informed me in no uncertain terms: "Mommy, I want to daaaance!"
The first studio I called offered 3-year-olds an hour-plus of ballet and tap, a little intense for a toddler. The next one offered only combination classes in dance and tumbling. Then Janie Christy answered the phone. "We offer Creative Movement," she said, explaining that her classes included clapping, hopping and skipping.
The first few years were pure fun; after all, there are few things more adorable than a 4-year-old in a leotard pretending to be a butterfly.
As the girls moved into elementary school, soccer, basketball and volleyball came – and went. Miss Janie, who had opened her own studio, remained. We learned to schedule our spring around the annual recital, even skipping out on my best friend's wedding reception to make it to dancing on time.
Instead of learning layups, our daughters moved en pointe. Miss Janie, a petite and upbeat woman who sometimes disappears among the fourth-graders, taught them the joys of ballet, of working together and finding passion in what you do. She also set some mighty tall expectations. Ballerinas don't whine, she told them. They never cross their arms when someone is talking to them. They are respectful to teachers and classmates.
She made each of them feel special, while sharing her own philosophy that a good attitude is everything. In fifth grade, there was the hygiene talk. Once, when some of the girls were unusually rambunctious, she admonished them, "Ladies, this is a school of dance, not a school for wild hoodlums!"
Only when my daughters reached their teen years did I realize how important she had become. She not only taught them, but also trusted them. In middle school, she asked the girls to help her stuff envelopes and handle other projects. In high school, she let them teach toddlers at dance camp and become assistant teachers at the studio. At recitals, they ran quick-change rooms, carried clipboards and stage-managed segments. When so many other adults told teenagers they were too young and too green, she sent a powerful message: I value you.
Now we stand on the edge of the inevitable transition – graduation. My first dancer is in college in Connecticut, and the second will head to school in California in a few months. Recently, we wiped away tears at our last dance recital as our youngest danced to the song from Wicked that goes, "because I know you, I have been changed for good." In the village that helped raise our children, many people contributed – friends, neighbors, clergy, dedicated teachers and enlightened principals. But Miss Janie was our mayor, the leader of the parade.
I'd like to say that a mentor like that is the greatest asset a parent can have. But really, it's the greatest asset a young person could ask for, someone who leads and loves and truly makes a difference. To Miss Janie, and all the other mayors and villagers who brought us the class of 2008, we are eternally grateful.
Karen Blumenthal of Dallas is a former Dallas Morning News editor and the author of several books, including "Grande Expectations: A Year in the Life of Starbucks' Stock." Her e-mail address is karen.blumenthal@sbcglobal.net.