Ariel Faith Thomas has been chosen as our Dancer of the Month for April. Ariel is a girl that loves to smile and be happy. What makes her the happiest is spending time with her family, friends, and her fur babies. The other thing in her life that makes her happy and helps her define herself is dance. She loves all things dance whether she is dancing, helping a younger dancer to learn, or just being in the environment and soaking up the art. When she steps on a stage, she feels like she is laying it all out. She is laying out herself and all of her feelings for everyone to see. Sometimes it is hard for her to put how she feels in words but when the music comes on and she can dance, then she can express her feelings. Her story comes alive.

She was very young when she got started in dance. There was a dance studio next to her daycare where her older sister took gymnastics classes. Ariel would go with her sister but she would watch the dancers. She wanted to do that - she wanted to dance!! She was really too young to start dancing, but the studio let her take the classes anyway. Ariel can remember her first class and the dance games they would play. She says she would always get excited on dance day!!

Ariel’s happiest moments are definitely the moments when she was dancing with her grandfather! Her grandfather always loved to dance and it would make him smile and laugh. When Ariel was a little girl, he would often dance with her. These are some of her favorite memories, especially now that he is no longer here. She even danced a solo one year to dedicate to him. She misses him and is thankful she has those memories.

She tells us that her experience with Bailar was great! She remembers that she was riding down the
road with her mother on the way to a dance competition. She had Bailar’s website pulled up on her phone and her mom was talking to their sales representative. According to Ariel, everyone they spoke with was very friendly and helpful. They ordered trunks for a competition which actually came in earlier than Ariel and her mom had asked.

Ariel has a number of goals. Her on-going goal is to always be better tomorrow than she is today. Each year she wants to be able to see that she has made improvements. It is her dream to be able to go to Julliard. Long term, she hopes to make dance her career. It is also her dream that she become her generation’s Liz Imperio. Ariel loves who Liz Imperio is as a person. She loves how Liz Imperio motivates and educates other dancers. Ariel believes that she does this emotionally as well as physically. It is Ariel’s hope that one day she can make a difference in dancer’s lives the way Liz Imperio does.