Magnify Him Through: Witness

We’re almost there, Turning Pointe Dance families! With nine months down and only two weeks of classes left, the 2024-25 school year dance session has almost come to a close. We’ve studied the syllabus, practiced the curriculum, and even rehearsed and performed in our costumes and classrooms. All that’s left now is to Magnify Him through witness.

Since we kicked things off back in September, as a studio, we’ve been discussing what it means to magnify the Lord through different outlets, scriptures and roles. That is, not to be a microscope that makes something small appear bigger—He is big enough already. But rather to act as a telescope, collecting the light, magnifying it, and using it to make something easier to see. Being a witness means showing (not just telling) others what God is like. It’s doing what’s right even when others don’t. It’s collecting His light and using our lives to make Him easier for others to see.

When we dance, we bear witness. Our joy, our attitude, and even the way we lift up others can point people to God. And with hundreds of people gathering at each of Turning Pointe’s nine recitals, plus vocal showcases and Twirl Red Carpet performances over the next two weeks, what incredible witnesses we can be!

Yes, we have recitals because we’re learning performing art. Yes, we have recitals to share our progress and celebrate our hard work with our friends, families and loved ones. Yes, we even have recitals because they provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation for our students.  But to truly experience the Turning Pointe difference, we encourage you to approach these coming weeks not just as a season of business or any other spring concert. We encourage you instead to magnify Him through witness.

We magnify God through our witness when we point to Him instead of ourselves. In dance, it’s easy to want to be noticed. But what would it look like to dance in a way that draws attention to God, and not just our own talent?

Students, we encourage you to use your steps to share your faith. We encourage you to live a life that demonstrates the power and love of Jesus, and share that truth with others through dance. We pray that your movements and actions will be a collection of light, reflecting the character of God in each and every moment on stage. We pray that through your performances, God will be easy for others to see.

Friends and family, we invite you to come and experience the Turning Pointe difference. Encourage and celebrate the amazing work and success of your dancers, but more than that, join us in worship and fellowship as we give this season of learning right back to the one who brought us to season 21.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings the good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”  Isaiah 52:7

Need some reminders heading into the next few weeks? Be sure to check out our All About Recital page here for specific class/performance dates, dress rehearsal times, performance tickets, special keepsakes, studio and performance policies, and more!

Join us at the Baylee Hope Fun Run This Weekend!

This Sunday, April 27, join us at the Palmer Lake Trail for our 3rd annual fun run benefiting the Baylee Hope Scholarship Fund! At 2 p.m., we’ll meet at 104 Oakdale Dr., to run, walk, or dance 2.2 miles—tutus optional! The weather is forecasted to cooperate, so let’s enjoy the sunshine and engage with the Turning Pointe Dance community as we all come together for a wonderful cause.

What is the Baylee Hope Scholarship?

 The Baylee Hope Scholarship was created in honor of Ms. Morgan's daughter, Baylee Hope Nelson. She was born on March 14, 2019, and passed away suddenly on March 15. That summer, the Baylee Hope Scholarship was created to leave a legacy of love, and spur on a new generation of dancers who will share their love for Jesus Christ with the world. Baylee did not get the chance to become a dancer, but her memory will live on through the dancers who receive Baylee Hope Scholarships each year.

 In addition to donating the proceeds of year-round lobby snack sales, Turning Pointe Dance began the Baylee Hope Fun Run in 2023 to make a bigger impact, growing the scholarship through a joy-filled community event. The fun run has gone on to raise thousands of dollars for Baylee Hope Scholarships, awarded annually to applicants selected from Turning Pointe’s graduating seniors, and presented recital weekend each year during the Senior Showcase.

 How to Register/Make a Donation

 Registration is $50 per family or $15 per person when you sign up in advance, or $55 per family and $20 per person for day-of registration. All registered runners will receive fun swag items to commemorate the day, along with plenty of photo opportunities.

 Click HERE to register for the 2025 Baylee Hope Fun Run

 If the trail’s not your thing, you can still be a part of Baylee Hope’s legacy through a donation to the scholarship fund—no running required.

 Click HERE to make a donation to the Baylee Hope Scholarship Fund

Magnify Him Through: Sacrifice

Can you believe the school-year dance session is almost over? Costumes have been handed out, choreography is finished, and we’re just six weeks away from spring recitals. As we begin to pick up steam through peek weeks, in-studio dress rehearsals, portraits and progress reports, it’s important to slow down and keep some perspective through all the end-of-the-year madness. To help us do that, this month our devotional focus is to magnify Him through sacrifice. That can look like many things in these busy months, so let’s take a look at a few together as we celebrate the Turning Pointe difference in recital season.

Magnify Him through Progress Reports

 Later this month, each of our students in each class Primary level and above will receive their progress reports. These evaluations measure proficiency in each level’s curriculum targets, and determine each student’s level and class placement for the following year. It can be an emotional time of both celebration and disappointment, be it in our levels or in being separated from classmates and friends one way or the other. But rather than placing our hopes and fears in each piece of paper, let’s join together and place them in the hands of the Lord.

 In this month’s memory verse, Luke 7:38, we learn a valuable lesson from a sinful woman:

 “And standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment.”

It’s a story of profound gratitude for the love and forgiveness of Jesus, but more than that, it teaches us to magnify Him through sacrifice. The woman humbly gave her perfume, but she also sacrificed her pride and her reputation before the other Pharisees. She took her tears, her lips, hair and perfume, and sacrificed them as tools for sin, instead offering them as instruments of righteousness and sincere worship.

As Christians, we’re not called to lives of anxious comparison, yielding worship to worry over this or any other evaluation we’ll face. Rather than using each progress report as a tool for our sinful nature to take hold, we encourage you to sacrifice any expectations or guideposts that aren’t His alone. Sacrifice any self-serving motives, and any motivation that isn’t rooted in serving Him. Sacrifice your plan for your trajectory or your friend group, and offer your training to Him as a means of worship.

He is the reason we dance, and we’re right where He needs us to be! Easier said than done, we know—especially when you’ve been working hard toward a God-given goal all year. But in trusting His perfect plan and His perfect timing, alongside trusting your teacher’s discretion to keep you dancing safely for years to come, we can magnify Him through how we navigate the process—a life lesson far more important than any curriculum target.

Magnify Him through Recitals

 Romans 12:1 urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our true and proper worship. This means dedicating our entire lives, not just our actions, to God’s service and glorification. This means keeping Him in the heart of why we’re dancing every time we dance, not just on stage or in an outreach performance. That means sacrificing our exhausted grumbling and transforming our hearts to magnify Him through every class, performance detail, scheduling obligation, and rehearsal.

How we carry ourselves in these weeks leading up to the big show can easily entangle us in sin. We’re preparing to celebrate what the Lord has done in a big and mighty way—of course the enemy is going to rise against and try to bring us down! But when we, like the woman in Luke, sacrifice these tools of sin, and transform them into sincere worship, we can magnify Him in even greater ways. Our audience isn’t just the people filling the auditorium seats next month. It’s our weary classmates with us in the trenches of preparation. It’s the photographers, teachers, volunteers and staff we work with ahead of time. It’s the family and friends working alongside us, encouraging us in our dreams. It’s also an audience of one—the one who gave us bodies to dance at all.

When we sacrifice the self-serving grumbles of exhaustion and sore muscles our bodies endure this time of year, and instead see them through the lens of Romans 12:1, it transforms the way we engage with the movement in our dance classes, and in our recital performances. This is our chance to showcase our hard work, practice a performing art, and invite our friends and families into a world we love, but it’s also a chance to sacrifice our own spotlight and magnify Him even brighter.

Magnify Him Through: Spring Break

All school year long we’ve been walking through ways we can magnify the Lord through our dance training, our classroom relationships, and our stage performances. But did you know it’s just as important to pause sometimes? It’s true! Even Jesus rested, and encouraged His disciples to do the same. In fact, throughout the scriptures, God offers rest as a blessing to those who fully trust in Him. As much as we love working toward our goals, taking the time to rest and refresh our bodies and hearts is His design and plan for us, and even commanded throughout the Bible. So as you’re missing classes and itching to get back to work this week (as most dancers tend to do), remember, this isn’t wasted time. It’s an opportunity to magnify the Lord through rest.

Active Rest, Active Worship
True rest is an active participation in God’s grace. Yes, the scriptures also warn against sloth, but a one-week break does not make a lazy heart—especially when you’re intentionally seeking God’s presence and renewal during periods of rest, rather than simply ceasing activity. So this week, times when you’d usually be in school or working at the studio can be times of intentional connection with God. Use it to commune with Him, and be refreshed in His presence. Here’s some ways you can go about it:

●      Spend time in prayer (free from distractions)

●      Spend time in the scriptures (journal your way through His word)

●      Spend time in His creation (take some walks… the weather is gorgeous this week!)

●      Spend time learning about His character (and what you can bring back to the studio with you next week)

Purposeful Stillness
Sabbath rest has been commanded since the very beginning of scriptures, not just as time off from labor, but as time specifically dedicated to worship, reflection, and fellowship with God. So while our bodies are worthy of restoration and healing, our hearts and minds can be purposeful in our stillness. In using this time wisely, we magnify God through a reliance on His provision, and recognition of His sovereignty. Since dancers aren’t typically ones to sit still, give these activities a try:

●      Close your eyes and listen to worship music (really listening and digesting the words)

●      Sit still and read through some devotions (or write some of your own)

●      Slow down and count your blessings, then express your gratitude for His provision

●      Be still in His presence, and rest in the knowledge that He’s in control (it’s harder than it sounds)

Encourage Others
As much as worship and rest are called out for their importance, there’s something the scriptures equally don’t endorse: Isolation. Christians aren’t meant to walk alone. We even started this dance year with the foundation of magnifying Him through community! So while we’re separated from our teachers and classmates in the studio this week, it’s important to remember we’re all resting together. If you’re feeling restless, odds are your classmates are, too. As you find restoration this week, take some time to encourage others striving for the same. We’re all taking this break together! Dancers need each other’s encouragement in rest just as much as they do in performance and skill mastery. Give these actions a try:

●      Send an encouraging text message or scripture to a dance friend

●      Pray for your teachers and classroom helpers

●      Write some notes to bring back to class next week

●      Encourage your classmates to make rest an act of worship, and check in on each other throughout the week

 Whether in stillness or fellowship, in rest or vacation, we pray all of our Turning Pointe families have a wonderful break! We’ll see you back in the studio for Spring Peek Week and recital costume distribution March 31-April 5.

Magnify Him through: Service

Gifts—the dictionary defines them as things given willingly to someone without payment. The Bible defines them similarly. Scriptures refer to gifts as offerings given to God, acts of kindness and love among people, or spiritual abilities bestowed by God, all signifying grace, generosity, and God's provision. And all meant to be willingly given to others without expectation.

While all of our students and staff are gifted dancers, teachers, actors, communicators, etc., this month’s studio verse reminds us that being a good steward of those gifts is just as important as refining your skills in training and classes. The apostle Peter lays it all out for us:

 “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace … in order that in everything God may be glorified through Christ Jesus. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.”

                                                                                                                         —1 Peter 4:10-11

 Whether it’s on stage or off of it, each one of our gifts is a manifestation of God’s grace, meant to be shared, and meant to be a reflection of Him in us. But these gifts, no matter how great, weren’t given for the glory of our own talent, or for the purpose of our own self-discovery. They were given that we might magnify Him through service—with His strength, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

 Turning Pointe Dance is committed to providing excellence in dance and theater instruction while cultivating hearts of worship and nurturing creativity. We believe every class is an opportunity to dance with and for the Lord, and every performance, recital and peek week is an opportunity to shine His light to others. More than that, we believe in using our gifts and talents to serve others, be it through mission trips, community service, or outreach initiatives, to shine His light beyond our classroom and auditorium walls.

 Last year we kicked off our school-year session with a donation drive for Hunger Action Month, benefitting Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado. As grocery prices remain high and families in our community deal with the reduction of federal food benefits, more of our neighbors are turning to Care and Share's network of partner food pantries and meal programs for help. Through the generosity of our dance family, Turning Pointe Dance was able to give around 160 lbs. of food to this network. Our students also shared their gifts at Magnificent Obsession, a performance that featured several of the state’s ensembles for a unique worship dance concert.

Our Training Division continued their annual outreach tradition with a Christmas performance for our senior neighbors at Brookdale Vista Grande, while other students performed with Jared Anderson’s Christmas This Year and the Village 7 Presbyterian Christmas Concert. Students from Twirl to adult had the opportunity to spread joy through more than 100 Christmas peek week performances, and a Parent’s Afternoon Out event started raising funds for Fidele Youth Dance Company’s mission trip to El Salvador, planned for March 2026.

 At the start of 2025, STARZ Theater Company kicked off their 12th season with performances of Peter Pan, partnering with Every Village for cast devotions and opportunities to support the ministry. The Training Division sent a team to demonstrate and teach dance to families at District 49’s Inspiration Elementary Arts Night, and our students, staff, and families created hundreds of handmade valentines for Springs Rescue Mission’s Acts of Hope.

 So far this month, members of Fidele Youth Dance Company’s 2024 Mission Team performed for the Daughters of the King women’s Bible study, and the Turning Pointe Dance interns got together to choreograph, perform and film four children’s worship songs for World Challenge, a nonprofit ministry in the Springs. Each video will be used in a Christian music curriculum, World Challenge Kids, which will teach dance to students in ministry programs across the world, including through a new partnership with an orphanage in Afghanistan.

But the work isn’t done yet. Peter gave us a call to service, and we’ll continue to steward the gifts of our Turning Pointe family for His glory on the stage, in our community, and beyond.

Upcoming Service Projects & Opportunities to SHINE:

●      March 31-April 5 we’ll host our dance families for Spring Peek Week

●      The Training Division will carry out an Outreach Day April 11-12, teaching and dancing with Sunrise United Methodist Church, Children’s Hospital Colorado Springs, and Bethesda Senior Living, among others. If you know a community we should add to the day’s itinerary, send us a message!

●      During the month of May, we’ll be hosting an end-of-year drive for our community—keep an eye out for more information and donation drop-off bins in the lobby at recitals!

Further Your Dance Training in 2025

What are your goals for dance training this year? Do you want to improve your technique? Understand your body better? Have a better understanding of how our roles as dancers and Christians intertwine and support each other? Maybe you want to work on the vocal and performance aspects of your “triple threat” status, get experience in a new class or rehearsal setting, or add some more bullet points to your theater resume. No matter your goals, there’s a program at Turning Pointe that can help! Just like joining a small group at church can develop close community and give us the opportunity to dive deeper and more personally into our faith, auditioning for a program can do the very same for your time in the studio.

Ready to know more? Read on to learn about each of Turning Pointe’s three pre-professional divisions—and how you can learn more at our informational meetings this weekend!

The Training Division

 The Training Division is for dancers age 10 and up who are interested in studying Classical Ballet. Studying ballet takes repetition, drive, and commitment. At Turning Pointe, we provide unique pre-collegiate Classical Ballet training for students in a Christian environment, and encourage students to train their bodies and spirits for the glory of God. In this division, dancers are required to come to ballet technique class three times a week, and choose a non-ballet elective (contemporary, jazz, worship, modern, etc).  Moving up to the next level is based on ability, not age. A placement class is required to audition for this program, and interested students must have had two or more consecutive years of ballet.

 For more information on the Training Division, you can read through the handbook here.

 Learn more this weekend:
Training Division Informational Meeting
Saturday, February 22
10-10:30 a.m.

Audition for the Training Division:
Training Division Auditions (Spring)
Tuesday, April 15
6:30-7:15 p.m.

 
Training Division Auditions (Summer)
Thursday, May 15
5:30-7 p.m.

Fidèle Youth Dance Company

 FYDC is Turning Pointe’s dance performance ministry, dedicated to impacting our world for His Kingdom through the arts. This program is available for students age 10 and up, and offers an annual full-length and faith-based dance production each November. In odd-numbered years (like 2025), students aged 14 or older who participate in the regular production season can also apply for the FYDC Mission Team. These students perform an additional touring gospel production, teach dance and lead worship at workshops in Colorado Springs, Vail, and over a week in El Salvador in the spring following the November production. All company members will work with guest instructors and FYDC alumni to expand their vocabulary and skill sets in dance and performance, participate in weekly Bible study, worship dance and devotion time, and are assigned to groups that allow each dancer to connect, encourage and support each other through fellowship and prayer as they learn how to use their dance training as a means of performance ministry.

 To learn more about FYDC, visit their website here.

Learn more this weekend:
FYDC Informational Meeting
Saturday, February 22
10:30-11:15 a.m.

 Audition for FYDC:
FYDC 2025 Season Auditions (Christmas as Sugar Plum Manor)

Saturday, June 28
10-11:30 a.m. (Students age 10-13)
12:30-2 p.m. (Students age 14+)

Alternatively, students can audition via video. Requirements and information will be posted to the auditions page of FYDC.com on June 1. All submissions must be received by 3 p.m. on June 28 to be considered.

STARZ Theater Company
STC is Turning Pointe’s theater performance division, offering classes, summer intensives, and performance opportunities with its varied divisions. This program offers musical theater training and experience for students ages 9-18 (or senior in high school), and produces school-year and summer productions. In partnership with the Turning Pointe Musical Theater Program, these opportunities are designed to enrich the training of enrolled TPD students. Performers not enrolled at Turning Pointe may still audition through our community auditions, and casting opportunities are offered based on experience and available roles. As Turning Pointe’s youth theater production company, STC is designed to offer theatrical training, dance technique and vocal foundations in a safe environment that fosters personal growth in the world of the arts.

For more information on STC, visit their website here.

Learn more this weekend:
STC Informational Meeting
Saturday, February 22
11:15 a.m.-Noon

Audition for STC:
STC Summer Production Auditions (Fiddler on the Roof)
Saturday, April 5 (Auditions)
Sunday, April 6 (Callbacks)

Magnify Him Through: Love

God is love. Love one another. For God so loved the world. It’s no secret that love is a defining attribute of our Heavenly Father. In fact, the word “love” is written in the Bible more than 700 times in most translations, in part because there’s no other word for “love” in the English language. All season long we’ve been studying ways to magnify the Lord—that is, to make Him easier to see in our lives and through our dancing. This month the red Valentine hearts adorning each of our classroom doors remind us of our studio-wide devotional theme: Magnify Him through LOVE.

 The Bible tells us we are made in the image of God, and, as Christian performers, we reflect His creativity in every step we dance. But more than that, we are made in the image of God, and that God is love. (1 John 4:8) The problem is, when we think about loving others, we often misplace our efforts by serving our own hearts in the process, or we simply pick and choose when we love others and when we don’t. Loving others isn’t always our top priority when we’re in the pits of recital preparation, doing vocal warmups or pliés at the barre. It’s especially difficult to shift our hearts to loving others when we’re so focused on achieving our own goals in the studio. Let’s face it—theater and dance can be a selfish industry by its very nature. Afterall, it’s hard to turn the spotlight to an unseen God when it’s literally shining on us, across the stage, for a whole audience to see. But God’s love doesn’t pick and choose. It doesn’t come and go, and this month’s memory verse–prominently displayed on every classroom mirror all February–can help us bring it all back into focus:

 “No one has ever seen God; If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12

 I love this analogy from one of Ken MacLeod’s Community of Grace sermons:

 “Who is someone that you love deeply? Why do you love them? If you have a list of all the reasons you love someone, you don’t really love them. You love yourself, and these reasons only tell you the ways that person pleases you. For example, G.K. Chesterton said you could pick a place, let’s say Portland, Maine. If you love Portland for some reason in particular, maybe because it has great food, then you don’t love Portland. You love yourself, and the food you can find around Portland pleases you. But if you really love Portland for no reason but for its own sake, you would be willing to tear down every restaurant in Portland if it made it a better place.”

 As Christians we know that God is present in our world. But as John reminds us in this month’s verse, He is unseen. Enter this year’s theme: Magnify. Then enter this month’s verse. John is telling us that when we love one another with God’s love, it is a visible demonstration of His presence abiding in us. The trick is to magnify Him through a love like His, and not one of our own definitions. His is a love for others that can’t be explained. It’s a love for the unlovable; a love that loves those who are successful and those in the trenches with equal measure. It’s an intentional love for people God placed in your life. It’s a love for people who will not love you in return. It’s a love for your enemies. This is the love of God in you. In this way (and only in this way), we can give our audience visible evidence of the unseen God.

 At Turning Pointe Dance, we’re working to be living examples of His perfect love, cultivating hearts of worship and a loving community that transcends the studio. It’s more than just great dancing—that’s the Turning Pointe difference. This month (and every one after that), we encourage you to reset each time you see the studio verse posted up on the mirror, or the Valentine hearts on each door. Reflect on your relationships. Pray for God’s love to work through you, whether that looks like lifting up your classmates, intentionally showing kindness to those not in your class or level, showing selfless gratitude for your setbacks, or even making God seen through a love of dance, performance and worship. In all things, we encourage you to magnify Him through love.

Why A Curriculum?

Welcome to 2025 at Turning Pointe Dance! Whether you’ve been with us for all 20 years or you’re just adding your first classes this semester, we’re so glad you’re a part of our Turning Pointe family. With so many new students being placed into the appropriate classes this month, and so many others looking ahead to promotion and placement from spring evaluations, it’s important to check-in with your progress—and understand how measuring that progress is part of experiencing the Turning Pointe difference!

We offer a carefully constructed curriculum that introduces steps and concepts at an age-appropriate pace to make sure our students develop their skills in a safe and healthy way. We believe that a well-designed curriculum plays a significant role in helping our instructors achieve growth in each and every student! But there’s more to it than that. This week, let’s take a closer look at how curriculum benefits private dance education and why Turning Pointe Dance is one of the best places to dance in Colorado Springs.

1. Our Curriculum Enables Students to Take Responsibility for their Progress

 A curriculum provides knowledgeable and accessible pathways of progression so students don’t have to wonder what is required to move on to the next level. They’re trained in specifics for multiple, detailed areas of growth to focus on throughout the duration of a single level, helping to increase interest and direct motivation and initiative. A dance curriculum also synergizes level-specific dance ideas across all genres, giving students more repetition of foundational ideas from class to class, and allowing for greater practice in areas they’re working to master.

Did you know the expected duration of each level is 2-3 years? Think about it! Our most advanced classes are Level 5 for most genres. If you or your dancer enters the curriculum at Primary/Level 1 (age  6-7), that would make them proficient, masters of their craft by 11 years old! Instead of moving along like a school curriculum, our carefully created dance curriculum allows students to develop their skills according to five targets, showing growth and understanding in technique, performance, creativity/composition, history and etiquette. These skills and concepts are taught over the duration of that level, not necessarily mastered in one year. As we encourage each student to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in life, our curriculum enables them to take responsibility for their own growth and development in the classroom through clearly communicated expectations and measurable success.

2. Our Curriculum Supports Our Teachers

Curriculum acts as a guide, providing a foundation of clear and specific standards so teachers don’t have to redesign their class content on an annual basis. Our instructors serve as educators and experts in their field, but also as Godly examples, mentors, and Christian leaders to each student. A curriculum relieves the burden of preparing what to teach, and allows them to focus on how to teach each skill and lesson according to the unique needs of each class of students. It provides freedom through the boundaries in which instructional creativity can thrive. It also bridges the communication gap between teachers across multiple levels, removing the guesswork involved in preparing students for the next level or receiving students from the previous level with a different instructor. And if your class needs a substitute one week? A curriculum ensures another trained instructor can step in and continue appropriate development in any class.

3. Our Curriculum Unifies us as Turning Pointe Dance

Curriculum supports a healthy ecosystem at large dance studios like Turning Pointe by providing consistency and congruence for everyone involved across ages, levels, and genres. It infuses the promotion process with a realistic level of objectivity and publicly defines expectations for teachers, students, and families.

More than that, the Turning Pointe Dance curriculum is united in the glorification of God in the lives of our students and staff. Along with class content, our curriculum provides guidance for introducing the Gospel and Jesus Christ to students, and has been prayed over every step of the way. Our mission and vision are more than just words on a page. They are the heart and soul of everything we do, and our curriculum has been entrusted to the King of Kings to do His will and be glorified through it. Together, we use the curriculum to more fully consider how we can minister to our students—body, mind, and spirit.

STARZ Company Presents "Peter Pan"

“Faith, trust, and a little pixie dust” will take center stage this weekend, as STARZ Theater Company brings one of the most celebrated musicals to life January 17-19 at the ENT Center for the Arts. STC will kick off its 12th season with J.M. Barrie’s classic “Peter Pan,” with performances guaranteed to take audiences from the “second star to the right and straight on 'til morning.”

 But before we take our seats for award-winning classics like "I'm Flying," "I've Gotta Crow," and "I Won't Grow Up," we caught up with STC Artistic Director Laura Bergen to see just what audiences can expect as they run away to Neverland.

 Turning Pointe Dance: Hey, Ms. Laura! STC last performed this show in 2019. What was behind the decision to return to Neverland?

 Ms. Laura Bergen: “We've been planning to bring this show back to the stage for quite some time. We LOVED the first time we performed Peter Pan Jr. in 2019 and I knew during that season that it would be one of the first I would want to repeat. The full-length production has more songs and expanded characters that bring so much life, humor and energy to the show! While this feels familiar, it also feels new!

 Another reason for our return to Neverland is that the show offers quite a bit of opportunity for speaking roles for younger and older students. Not something you see often in most musicals. Our program is in a different place now in Season 12 than we were in Season 6. When we first did Peter Pan Jr., we had our Starz Rizing (average ages 11-14) training division in place, but it wasn't until the next year that we launched our All-Starz (average ages 9-13) training division. Having a program at Starz that is scaffolded and helps train and develop our performers as whole-people while they lay a strong foundation in their theater skills has made a tremendous impact on our company. The training works! Over the last couple of years, we have been amazed as we've seen our students display a unique strength and readiness at younger and younger ages. We wanted to choose a show for our season that would allow opportunities for younger performers.”

 TP: The company has obviously come a long way in those six years! Besides younger readiness, what are some of the biggest differences you've seen, and how will this production be different as a result?

 LB: “The biggest difference I feel this time is how the company has grown over the last six years. When I had my first meeting at the ENT Center for our show they brought out a relic from the archives—our specs doc from our 2019 production. WOW! I was taken back by how much has changed since that time. In our 2018-2019 season we were a small creative team and a relatively small company, but we were united in a big goal: Helping students find their voice and tell their story through our season. During 2019, we had four people on our creative team and 50 performers in the cast. This season, there are nine people on the Creative Team, six Student Assistants, a cast of 96 and a student stage crew of 15!

 One thing that hasn't changed—we are still all united in our goal of finding our voice and telling our story. I love STARZ, and the size of the group has never impacted the dearness of our company, but it does change a few very practical/logistical aspects of the show (volume of sound, variety of characters, etc.) that audiences will notice within the show. We also have a few new ensemble groups with the addition of All-Starz and Starz Rizing to the mainstage show! 

 Fun fact: We have a few students in our cast and student assistant crew who were with us the first time we did Peter Pan Jr.! Two of them are seniors this year and the others aren't far from being seniors. That has been incredibly fun this season—reminiscing with them and enjoying all the memories we have from that first season as we work on the show together again.

 I'm so endlessly grateful for the many who have linked arms with and believed in STARZ over the years. It is a gift I do not take for granted!”

TP: Wow, you've now gotten to serve on the STC production team through both performances of this particular show! What's been your favorite part of working on Peter Pan?

 LB: “Well, I'm a boy mom x4 (and I have four brothers). So offer me a show with a lot of adventure, wild energy and battle scenes and I'm so IN! My boys and my brothers inspired a lot of the character choices you will see throughout. This story truly is one of my favorites, and I really do think it’s because of the youthful, playful and fun energy that is infused throughout. Each scene is just a joy to work on!

 Another thing I love about the full-length version of Peter Pan is the incredible amount of dancing involved in the show. We have so many different styles of dance and, because Peter Pan is a golden-age musical, we even have ballet.

 This show is also very special for me because Peter Pan Jr. was the first show I directed at STARZ, and my first large-scale directing project. To be back in the script and character has been such a fun and joyful process.”

 TP: So what can audiences expect to see and experience at a performance this weekend?

 LB: “A whimsical story filled with adventures and heartwarming moments. Iconic and memorable characters including Peter Pan, Wendy, John, Michael, Tiger Lily, Captain Hook & Smee! Stunning flying effects as we fly seven different performers throughout the show. An epic battle on a pirate ship between the pirates, the Lost Boys & Brave Girls. A gorgeous rented set from California for our Neverland scenes. Memorable songs and family-friendly humor and fun. We hope our audiences enjoy every minute!”

TP: STC's mission is to share the freedom of Christ's love, tell the redemption story, stir hearts to our Creator, and engage others in worship. How have you been able to experience the gospel through this story this season?

 LB: “One thing that I noticed right away when I was reading through the script was that in Peter Pan, every ensemble group is always together. The Lost Boys are always together, Pirates, together; Animals, together. Brave Girls, together. Community and commitment are a huge underlying tone in Neverland. We have spent this season focused on the same verse as Turning Pointe: "O Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together." Our devo times have been precious as we have been studying magnifying the Lord together through thanksgiving, praise and surrender. We have also pressed into the command in Proverbs of being committed to encouraging and supporting one another in our walks with the Lord "As Iron sharpens Iron." (Proverbs 27:17

For this show, we have also partnered with a ministry this season called Every Village. Every Village is a ministry that partners with the people of South Sudan to provide every village with sustainable access to safe water, healthy churches and the gospel by radio. Audience members can learn more about supporting the ministry in their efforts this weekend at the show. We will also have a representative from the organization coming to share a devo with students. You can learn more at https://www.everyvillage.org/!”

TP: Last but certainly not least, how can we come and see Peter Pan this weekend?

 LB: “You have five chances to see the show: Friday, January 17, at 6 p.m., Saturday, January 18, at 1 and 6 p.m., and Sunday, January 19, at 1 and 6 p.m. Saturday’s 1 p.m. show includes ASL access—meaning there will be students of the PPCC IPP Program providing ASL-Access for a reserved section of our audiences! These seats are marked in red on Saturday's box office. Saturday’s 6 p.m. show is STC Alumni Night, and on Sunday night, we’ll honor STC’s graduating seniors.

 Tickets and information are all available at https://www.starztheater.org/peterpan!”

Magnify Him Through: Surrender

There’s no better time to set new goals than a brand new year. There’s also no better time to check in on the ones you already set. Midterm grades are posted, and there’s just one semester left in the path toward academic goals. Recital choreography and progress reports are just around the corner, right alongside auditions and application deadlines.

 As we slowly settle back into the groove of routine this week, we’re already inundated with all the world’s noise as advertisement after advertisement pops up with the latest products and programs that promise to be the key to unlocking our resolutions. But whether you’re entering the new year with motivation or frustration, it’s important to remember that we’re not running this race alone—and believe me, this second semester always does feel like a race to the finish line. No matter your goals, as a studio this month, we’re learning to place those God-sized goals at His feet. This month, we’re kicking off 2025 by studying how to magnify Him through surrender.

 Surrender. Easier said than done, right? When life as we know it seems to turn page after page, right down to the calendar year, it’s hard to let go of what we know and what seems to be working for us. We often cling tightly to what we think is right, or the path we think is the quickest or best. But even in the midst of change, the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. New year, new me—same God. The goals you’ve set for yourself this year? He knows them deeply. The challenges you’re staring down? He’s facing them right alongside you, the same way He stood with David to face Goliath. Now it’s up to us to surrender our goals and our plans to Him as we dance with abandon the same way David did in this month’s studio verse:

 “David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.”  — 2 Samuel 6:14-15

 There’s a lot to that word: Surrender. It’s not giving up. It’s not making a calculated sacrifice. It is, as the dictionary defines it, ceasing resistance to power, or submitting to authority. When David took up the Ark in his own way in 1 Chronicles, by his own rules, along the path he thought best, the Lord quickly made His power known. But when David surrendered his own will to the Lord, he gave Him authority over his life. He asked God for guidance and direction, and took up the Ark again according to God’s own instruction. And when he did, the people experienced joy, celebration, and God’s favor. You see, when we seek first His counsel, we are surrendering our plans to His, making way for great joy. American poet and writer Jackie Hill Perry said it best when she said, “There is nothing in your hands God won’t replace with more of Himself.”

 So what are you letting go of this year? Is it clinging to casting and roles or class placement as your only means of measuring growth or success? Is it your own timeline of advancement, comparing yourself to others in class or rehearsal, or measuring up to business models that aren’t yours? Maybe you’re not where you want to be just yet—or at least not where you saw yourself entering 2025 at the beginning of 2024. But in moments of frustration, you can choose to cling to the ideals of your own making and sit with the enemy in defeat, or you can surrender to the Lord in victory. As we do, our letting go is replaced by His lifting up. We humble ourselves before Him, and place our hearts at His feet the way David showed humility and took up the Ark once again. We’re not giving up. We’re giving everything to Him. We’re allowing His will to be magnified above our own. We’re making Him easier for others to see, because there’s no way we could walk this path on our own.

 As for our 2025 goals? We’re uniting hearts and turning eyes to the Lord as we build up leaders, provide excellence in dance and theater instruction, cultivate hearts of worship, and nurture each student’s creativity. Whether you’re joining us for the first time this semester (your last day to register is January 31!) or you’ve been a part of our studio family for the last 20 years, we’re here to help you go beyond technique to develop important life skills, like learning to be respectful and confident as you share the Lord through His gifts and talents in the community and beyond. This year, we invite you to know Him more deeply as you dive deeper in developing your technique and performance skills. We invite you to stay connected through our weekly emails, monthly newsletters, social media and right here on the blog. We invite you to experience the Turning Pointe difference in 2025!