Simply Smiddy - The Idaho Convert

I Believe in Dance             I believe in dance because when dancing a personality is expressed that you might not see normally. I believe it is a way to escape into a whole different world to find your happy place. Dance clears your mind of all other emotions you might feel in your life. I believe as a dancer you can lose yourself in the music and the movement. “The truest expression of people is in its dances and its music. Bodies never lie” (Maleah Diggs). Dance is my therapy, my getaway, my happiness.   Often when you ask a dancer why they dance they reply with some sort of comment along the lines of ‘why do you breathe’ or ‘it is my life’. There is only one way we can truly connect the idea that ‘dance is life’, the instrument through which the dance speaks is also the instrument through which life is lived: the human body. It is the instrument by which all the primary experiences of life are manifested. It holds...

There are so many things we are truly blessed with in our lives and so many things that we should be thankful for. I have an infinite number of blessings to be thankful for so no doubt I will forget something and I am apologizing for it right for that. It would take a lifetime to write down all my blessings, but I'm going to write about the ones that stand out the most to me this month.  1. My BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING family!           I am always so grateful for my family, but lately I have noticed truly how blessed we are to have our own families that will be there for us no matter what! I am grateful my direct family members as well as my distant family members. Family is always first because they are the people that are going to matter after this life. I have such great parents and siblings its truly amazing! They all bless my life SOO much! 2. My HOMETOWN (Blackfoot).            I NEVER realized how much I truly do love ...

This  couldn't be anything but grateful for Christ and every thing he went through so that we could eventually be perfected. I am so blessed to have a Heavenly Father that cares so much he would give up his  only  begotten son.  Christmas is not about the presents, the shopping, or the money... It is entirely about reminding us how blessed we are to be living Heavenly Father's plan and to be experiencing this life.  Our life is rare and beautiful and we must embrace it, embrace the time we have here and embrace the opportunity we have to prove to our Heavenly Father that we are worthy to return to him. And once we do that, he will welcome us home with loving arms and it will be like the feeling you get when you see your family laughing together at the end of the night, only greater. We are so blessed. Remember what Christmas is really about and share this video. #ShareTheGift

Way back in my diaper days I spent a majority of my time blasting the radio and dancing along to what I thought was the beat. My family  didn't  have much living in a small trailer, but we had enough for a young girl to use her imagination and think about what her passion would eventually be. Taking dance classes was not an option when I was young, my mom worked as a cosmetologist at Wal-Mart and my dad worked as a delivery guy for Fed-Ex, but I learned some moves from the TV. Every time Dancing with the Stars came on I would try to dance along with the people on the show and learn to do what they were doing.  Dancing was something I was born to love and do. It  wasn't  until five years after my mom moved away from my dad that I was actually put into a dance studio. The day I walked into the studio I remember the overwhelming joy I felt, I knew that dancing was where I belonged. I didn’t exactly know at the time why I had the love I did for danc...

As many of you know I made the spontaneous decision to change some major things in my life the summer of senior year and especially a week before senior year started. WHAT and WHY? First, I changed from the AMAZING Diva Dance Company in Blackfoot to the AMAZING Dance Factory in Pocatello. This had nothing to do with which studio was better or which teacher was more qualified, but it had everything to do with just taking an opportunity to spend more time dancing. Let me explain slightly what I mean; The Dance Factory has the option to hold six classes at a time in their studio because of the way it is built so basically I have the opportunity and I am taking the opportunity to dance at least 5 hours a night, sometimes more, at least four times a week. I also have the opportunity to travel to bigger conventions that Diva Dance didn't travel too. Growing up at Diva Dance was one of the best things I could have ever asked for and without Wendy Schild I would not have the love and t...

This year at Open Dance Nationals I was honored to choreograph a duet with Gabe Wistisen. Many ask when Gabe started dancing.... A month before nationals. Why? Well... I called him and asked if he would do a duet with me and he said, "um.. sure" and I said, "good cause I already paid for it!" haha. Gabe worked really really hard for a month to learn not only the new choreography, but the basics as well. Gabe has taken tap classes, but other than that he was not informed of the technique needed to pull of a contemporary dance. Gabe has also been in many plays so I knew that he would be a good option as a duet partner because he would perform with his face. We were really nervous to compete at Open Dance Nationals because we were entered in the Advanced Contemporary division for age 17. We were honored to not only take first, receiving high gold and king/queen, but we also were honored to make the National All-American Team! Which only the top fifteen dancers are...

A view from the top of the stadium! Yes I performed in front of that HUGE crowd. One Step Closer to achieving my biggest dreams! I have been blessed with so many amazing opportunities in my dance career and performing at the Jazz vs. Lakers game beats them all. I was incredibly blessed to perform at Energy Solutions on April 14th, 2014. It was the Utah Jazz's last game and it was against my all time favorite Los Angelous Lakers! It was very tempting to wear my Lakers jersey, but i decided since I was performing with the Utah Jazz Dancers I should probably represent them.  Being in the stadium, on the floor, with the Jazz players is an experience I will never forget. I was standing within inches of some of the greatest basketball players. As they warmed up and we marked formations I was able to talk to some of them. They would pass the ball back and forth barely missing an arm or leg or your face! It was really funny because as they passed the ball back and forth they would t...