Chris Collins Dance Studio

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"As Seen on TV"

As we began the 2003-2004 dance year, our performing dance company had just returned from our most ambitious summer performance trip to date -- having been featured performers at both Walt Disney World and Universal Studios CityWalk in Orlando.

Big changes were in store just one month into the new dance year, as we moved from our 10-year home in Alexandria on Van Dorn Street to a new and much larger facility several blocks away on Eisenhower Avenue. For the first time we would enjoy three studio at one location, and even our smallest room at the new location would be larger than any room we've had before.

Student of the Year
Allison Meyer

Our dancers quickly adapted to their new surroundings, and we enjoyed another terrific year. Our Dance Company Parent Association was becoming more active than ever, coordinating a fun dance-a-thon, a holiday party at the West End Dinner Theater where we saw the local production of "Crazy For You," and a winter trip to New York City, where Company members saw Broadway shows like "The Lion King" and "The Rockette Christmas Spectacular" and took master classes at Broadway Dance Center. Spurred by the success of our website feature "The Chatterbox," the parents added their own discussion area with the creation of "The Parent Yap." The dance parents also made an important commitment to the future of dance with the creation of "Rising Star Scholarship" program to recognize non-Company students who exhibit outstanding attitude, effort and potential. At Showtime 2004 the DCPA awarded $250 tuition stipends to the first four scholarship recipients. Showtime 2004 was a tribute to television. When our studio first opened, televisions had antennas on them and received four channels -- on a good day. Now with over 500 channels of 24-hour-a-day programming, it's a whole new world. Some people say television reflects changing society, while others say society has changed because of television. Regardless of how you feel, we believe our 2004 recital, "As Seen on TV," is reality programming at its best. As we've noted all along our 30-year journey, one of the most difficult parts of any dance year is saying goodbye to our graduating seniors, and 2004 was a year for the record books in that regard. Graduating and heading off to college were Katie Allen, Sabrina Crane, Amanda Desper, Christy Genova, Elizabeth Herrell, Courtney Parker, Stella Photiou, Lauren Ramos and Camille Shand. These young ladies are all outstanding dancers and wonderful people who have left a permanent mark on our studio. We'll miss them in weekly classes, but we know we'll see them down the line. That was 2004 at Chris Collins Dance Studio.

2004 Teachers:

Christina Carlson, Chris Collins, Lauren Gentile. Jennifer Meyer, Briana Prosper, Mary Pulleyn, Christopher Talley, Tiffany Talley, Annette Taylor

Student Recognitions:

Student of the Year and Bill Collins Scholarship - Allison Meyer
Performer of the Year - Megan Savary
Outstanding Effort - Alina Collins, Lindsey Kraus, Ben Yeannakis
Outstanding Improvement - Yodet Meresie, Latika Stewart, Kelsey Taylor
Outstanding Performers - Valyssa Brown, Katie Hill
Outstanding Dedication - Samantha Doyle, Brittany Sutphin
Outstanding Potential - Shirley Balcarcel, Wendy Chicas, Kerry Doyle, Chrislia Vandy
10 Years of Dnace - Paige Darlington, Toni Fargo, Vanessa Fuentes, Christy Genova, Sarah Marino, Kristen Powers, Jessica Raugitanane, Mary Kate Robbett, Megan Savary, Tina Valenti
15 Years of Dance - Flavius Hall
DCPA Rising Star Scholarships - Seghen Amanios, Sewit Amanios, Kelly Goodison, Alicia Stumpf

What else happened in 2004? NASA lands two vehicles on Mars. The City and County of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is alleged. A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming six lives. Terry Nichols is convicted by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Dedication of the National World War II Memorial takes place in Washington, DC. Groundbreaking of Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in New York City. Lance Armstrong Texas wins an unprecedented 6th consecutive Tour de France cycling title. Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements. The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens. Documents claimed by Ran Rather and CBS News to be typewritten memos from the early 1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern word processing systems in an effort to discredit President Bush. The scandal would lead to Rather's departure from the CBS Evening News and his eventual retirement from CBS. The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1918. In the U.S. Presidential election, President George W. Bush defeats Senator John Kerry. Republicans make gains in the House and Senate. The world's tallest bridge, the Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France is opened. A massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake, epicentered just off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generates enormous tsunami waves that crash into coastal areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Burma and Indonesia, killing nearly 200,000. The top grossing movies of 2004 were: "Shrek 2" "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" "Spiderman 2" "The Incredibles" "The Passion of the Christ" And the Academy Award for Best Picture went to "Million Dollar Baby." Songs topping the music charts in 2004 were: "The Reason" by Hoobastank "This Love" by Maroon 5 "Yeah" by Usher "Leave" by JoJo "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5 On television we were watching new programs including: "The Apprentice" "Joey" "CSI: New York" "Lost" "Desperate Housewives" "Boston Legal" "House" Notable deaths in 2004 included: Yasser Arafat (Palestinian leader) Marlon Brando (actor) Ken Caminiti (steroid junkie) Ray Charles (singer and musician) Julia Child (chef) Rodney Dangerfield (comedian) Rick James (musician) Estee Lauder (cosmetic entrepreneur) Janet Leigh (actress) Jerry Orbach (actor) Gen. George Patton (U.S. Army general) Tony Randall (actor) Ronald Reagan (40th President of the United States) Christopher Reeve (actor) Pat Tillman (football player and U.S. Army Ranger) Reggie White (football player)