Carmel Valley Urged to Donate Dancewear to Give Hope

As in most dance schools, ushering out the old year and in with the new also means it’s time for a little ‘housekeeping’.  I know in our studio and I suspect we are not alone, we accumulate a wealth of left behind clothing, including dancewear from September through December.  Don’t ask me how or why; I’ve never been able to figure out which students are leaving the studio ‘sans clothing.  All seem to be properly dressed when exiting.  So we go through the process each January, asking each student to ‘please search through the lost and found bins for misplaced items’  and then we begin to figure out the best way to ‘dispose’ of the extra garments.

We normally sort through the wayward pieces, first determining if we can find any potential owners through names that may have been attached.  Then, we sort out gently worn dancewear and dance shoes, with the exception of dance tights and place them in a separate container.  That’s when the dilemma occurs…what to do with perfectly good dancewear?  We used to house them in what we call our ‘borrowing bins’ in our office; you know, for those times when a student ‘forgets’ their leotard?   Sometimes these extra garments can be a dignity saver for our youngest of dancers who sometimes waits just a little too long before requesting a restroom break.  That is all well and good, but you can only truly house so many ‘borrowing’ pieces.  Finding a local San Diego charity that can use gently used dancewear is non-existent and you can just sense the silent groan of the Goodwill workers as they see dancewear head their way.  “It just doesn’t sell,” we’ve been told.

But the dance fairy in her ultimate wisdom sensed our dismal situation and sent a ‘dance angel’ our way in the body and spirit of local Carmel Valley resident and North County DanceArts‘ instructor, Robyn Shifren who alerted us to a new and growing charity that thrives on the donations of used dancewear and dance shoes.  Robyn, a native of South Africa, accomplished principal ballerina with Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, London and South Africa’s NAPAC Ballet, Founder of BarreWorx, and a highly sought after instructor said “Would you have any spare dancewear or dance shoes that you would like to donate to a charity that I am involved with?”  Would we?  The obvious answer was a resounding “YES!”

Robyn continued to tell my wife Tanya and I of a charity that was founded back in her home country of South Africa by Cinda Eatlock, musical theatre teacher and choreographer herself, but also a woman with a passion for dance and a passion to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.  She explained that Cinda was moved in June of 2013 to found Dansazania, a program that takes below poverty level and homeless, abandoned children off the streets of Johannesburg, offering them with a place to go every day, provides dancewear, dance shoes, free dance instruction and therefore provides much needed hope and relief in their lives.  These children are children between the ages of five and eighteen and Cinda currently teaches over 80 students in 10 classes per week.  Although some of the children in the program are from families living below the poverty level, most of the children benefiting from her program are orphaned, abandoned or abused children that make their homes in the storm drains, under bridges and in shop doorways.  Because of the lack of government resources, there are no funds to house these children, let alone dance instruction or any other character building activities.  Robyn said, “You have no idea of how the faces of these children ‘light up’ dressed in their newly acquired dancewear and hit the dance floor for their first real dance classes”.  “It is one of their only true joys and I believe that it gives these children hope for a better future.”

So, we were in.  We began our donations in November of 2014 and this January we were happy to donate new and used dancewear and shoes estimated in value of more than $2,800.00.  What could be a better cause?

Dansazania’s success will only continue with donations of gently used dancewear and clothing.  I urge our Carmel Valley community to support this much needed spirit building mentoring by donating gently used dancewear and clothing to the Dansazania project.

Donations of dancewear and dance shoes may be dropped off at North County DanceArts, Inc.  located at 12750 Carmel Country Road, Suite 103 in the Carmel Country Plaza, corner of Del Mar Heights Road and Carmel Country Road.  Please bag all donations and tag with “Dansazania, Attention: Robyn Shifren”.  Please include your name, mailing address and estimated value of tangible goods if you wish to receive a charitable tax donation receipt from Dansazania for your items.  Tanya and I believe it takes a village, even if the village is ‘across the pond’.  Please give the gift of Hope and donate today.  Questions?  Write to ncdancearts@aol.com.

For more information on Dansazania, please read Huffington Post’s article “Dansazania Project Turns Dance Studio Into Safe Haven for South African Kids at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/06/dansazania-project_n_6113908.html 
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Louis McKay is President of North County DanceArts, Inc. located in Carmel Valley and currently trains 400 students from ages 3 to 93 years of age.  Louis has performed and taught Master dance and musical theater classes in 42 of our 50 states and Europe and South Africa. In 1980, Louis McKay opened Louis McKay Dance Studio, later to become North County DanceArts, Inc., which is a teaching facility that is best known for its professional teaching staff and quality dance training. Dancers from beginning level to professional are taught technique, terminology, and discipline in a nurturing and fun environment. Louis currently lives in Carmel Valley San Diego with his wife Tanya and is the proud father of four grown children and two grandchildren. Louis and Tanya McKay also own DanceHearts, a 501 (c) (3) Public Charity called Bells of Freedom Program, serves military men, women and their families by providing emergency care and support, back to school backpack program, vehicle donations and the annual “The Big Thank You” Military Holiday Event.