Opportunity Knocks: I Need Your Vote

Life definitely sends you some funny curve balls.

As I enter my fifth decade, I'm three years into finding and living my bliss and I'm at a crossroads to decide what to do to further my dreams. What comes my way? This opportunity to really make a difference.

Its short notice but what the heck right? The Mission Main Street Grant is a $100,000 grant awarded by Chase to 20 Businesses. (Here's more information about the grant.)

I have a deadline of June 5th to submit answers to five questions AND I need 250 votes by June 19 to make it to the evaluation round to be considered for the Mission Main Street Grant by Chase which will be awarded in September.

If I have helped you in anyway, made an impact on your life somehow, if you want to continue to attend my events and participate in some other new ventures I try, or even if you just like me and want to help -

Click on that button on the top of the page and VOTE now

Feel free to share with others and don't wait, deadline is June 19. Thanks so much for your help.

MY ULTIMATE DREAM
I want to create a Creative Learning Lab that allows people a fun environment to learn, explore and discover themselves with others. I believe that social partner dancing is a key activity that facilitates learning and personal growth and also builds community so I want to teach partner dancing in ways that allow this learning to happen. I also want to create a community that is welcoming and self-sustaining where its members pay it forward to help keep the community thriving. I also want to foster cooperative competition with others like myself who want to to grow through their passions.

RIGHT NOW
My business is teaching partner dance (Kizomba with some Bachata and Salsa) and producing dance and social event for people to learn about Kizomba and connect with a larger community that also enjoys learning, dancing, music and culture. Dancing allowed me to give form to expressing joy through movement with another person and allowed me to participate and give back in a warm and welcoming community so I want to share and facilitate that experience for others.

I'm starting with Kizomba and hoping to grow it past this dance into other dances and other activities that I love: art and cooking. Can you imagine a space where you can do all three? Geek out on whatever you wish or just be a newbie experiencing something for the first time.

HERE ARE SOME THINGS I WOULD DO WITH THE GRANT

• Continue to bring the best instructors here to Seattle for Kizomba and Semba through weekend workshops and social dancing.
• Develop a new curriculum of classes that are focused on musicality to help dancers that have grasped the basics to further their dance. EX: I want to try to find a live band to teach with to help dancers hear elements in the music better.
• Develop other programs that involve teaching dance to help with building confidence and another to help build intimacy in relationships.
• Bring together Kizomba teachers from all over the US to cooperatively discuss how to teach better, how to build community and how to enable cost effective exchange between communities and have this be an annual or bi-annual event. Expand this to different dance eventually.
• Develop a Travel and Exchange Program to help bring dancers closer to the cultural and musical context of the dance.
• Work with the Bachata Seattle team on the same programs to expand the Bachata community. 
• Find a space or work cooperatively with other studios and businesses to promote the art and cooking aspect of my Creative Learning Lab.
• Find business partners with strengths in marketing and sales to help me grow my market reach and monetize my ideas to create a sustainable business.