A Legacy of Love

Just one day after her earthside arrival, Baylee Hope Nelson was called back home to her Father in Heaven. This Sunday, Turning Pointe Dance invites its students and their families and friends to continue her legacy of love at the second-annual Baylee Hope Fun Run, set for April 21, at 2 p.m. near the Palmer Lake Trail entrance.

“Baylee was always loved,” her mother, Turning Pointe teacher Morgan Nelson said in a video published by the studio. “She was loved in utero … She was loved in our arms, and now she’s loved in the arms of Jesus.”

Presented annually at the studio’s spring recital showcase, The Baylee Hope Scholarship was created to honor the memory of Nelson’s daughter, who was born March 14, 2019, and passed away unexpectedly on March 15.

“It was terrible. We didn’t see it coming,” Nelson said in the video. “It shook us all. Later that summer, Ms. Tina (Cook) and Ms. Jennifer (Pederson) came to me with the idea of starting the Baylee Hope Scholarship in honor of her, and that was really special.”

Since it was established in the summer of 2019, the Baylee Hope Scholarship has annually awarded funds to applicants selected from Turning Pointe’s graduating seniors. In addition to donating proceeds from snacks sold at recital performances, and year-round in the studio lobby, last spring, the studio held the inaugural Baylee Hope Fun Run, which raised more than $1,000 for the scholarship fund.

“The goal of the Baylee Hope Scholarship is for the love to continue through the seniors who are going off to college, or whatever they’re pursuing after high school,” Nelson said. “To share that love to those around them.”

This year’s event hopes to surpass last year’s fundraising efforts to spur on a new generation of dancers who will share their love of Jesus with the world. Registration is $50 per family and $15 per person when you register in advance; Registration is $55 per family and $20 per person when you register on-site. Registration includes a Fun Run swag bag, and participants are encouraged to wear their best tutu to run, walk or dance the 2.2-mile distance.

 To participate in the 2024 Baylee Hope Fun Run, meet us at the welcome tables near the Palmer Lake Trail entrance at 104 Oakdale Drive around 2 p.m. this Sunday. While Baylee Hope did not get the chance to become a dancer here with us, her memory will live on as she dances in Heaven through the seniors who receive her namesake scholarship each year. So grab your friends, neighbors and fellow students, purchase concessions at our upcoming studio events and recitals, or pair your running shoes with your favorite tutu and join us for this weekend’s celebration.

 

Click HERE to register for the 2024 Baylee Hope 2.2 (tutu) Fun Run. To make a donation to the Baylee Hope Scholarship Fund, please click HERE.

April: Bear Fruit

Imagine if all of your busyness, in the end, amounted to nothing. Imagine if the activities and work you’ve poured yourself into failed to add up to anything of lasting value. It’s a harsh reality to come to terms with, especially in the world of theater and dance, when a performance we’ve worked all year to perfect will exist only in our memories as soon as the curtain closes. But when we nurture our own desires and ideas, or dance for our own glory, that’s exactly what will happen. In this month’s studio-wide verse, Jesus tells us that, unless we’re living in Him, and He in us, all of our running and chasing and striving will amount to nothing.

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”   — John 15:5

 Just as with the seedlings we’ve studied in our devotions all season long, only what has been planted and cultivated by the creator will thrive. When those buds and blooms are cut, picked, or otherwise separated from their source of life, they don’t survive. Likewise, in our lives, when we’re separated from the one who breathes life into all creation, we’re left to wilt and crumble. Only what flows out of a dynamic, living relationship with God will result in this month’s devotional focus: to bear fruit. And not just any blossom, but true, lasting fruit.

 “Have you ever been in a situation where there are so many good things that you just want to do all of them? Or you want to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way? When I think about bearing fruit, I’m reminded that we can’t grow too many things in one space because they suck the life and the nutrients from each other,” Turning Pointe owner Tina Cook said. “The fruit suffers if we don’t weed. If we spread too thin, damage the roots, or if too many things are growing, then nothing is fruitful. We have to make space for healthy roots to grow deep and decide what’s most important.”

 Simply put, our doing for Jesus has to flow out of our being with Jesus. Which means we need to look at what we’re chasing, double-check where the roots are planted, and choose what matters.

 “We plant seeds because eventually, we hope it will bear fruit,” Cook said. “And while we may see fruit beginning to grow on our plant, there are still things we need to do to tend to it, like weeding and pruning to make sure it stays healthy.”

 In the Fall of 2019, 15 years after Turning Pointe was planted, a fruit-bearing goal was set to reach 1,000 students—a rare feat for any dance studio, let alone a religious one. But by February 2020, with a then enrollment of 1,002, Turning Pointe celebrated the faithfulness of our Father, who created this dream in its staff, and allowed the studio to share the Gospel through dance with so many students.

 “We had a lot of things growing at this time,” Cook said. “Our processes were running like clockwork, and our team was all in.”

 But in March that same year, everything changed when the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a devastating hit to the world and the theater/arts community. Regular classes moved to Zoom, Twirl program classes were pre-recorded. Even three months later, lower-level recitals were performed distanced, two-to-four dancers at a time with limited guests, and the advanced showcase was performed in sections, distanced and outdoors.

 “I could go on and on about how many students we lost, how I had to reinvent the business overnight, or how I didn’t eat or sleep for months because I was so anxious about the unknown,” Cook said. “But we ALL have stories of struggle during that time. Looking back, what I am most grateful for is the way we were able to make space to decide what was most important. Once again, I was brought to a place of surrender. It’s not about my effort to grow or bear fruit. Any good thing, any fruit from the vine comes from Him.”

 Our own strength is not enough. We need to draw our strength from the vine if we want our lives to bear fruit for God’s kingdom. The most important part of the Christian life is the part that only God sees. We find God’s deepest blessing when we spend time at the feet of the One who knows and loves us best.

 “We learned the importance of community,” Cook said. “Nothing can replace being together. That’s the way God wired us. I’m so thankful that dance is not a solo effort. It’s a team performing art. We rely on each other and we rely on God! We are connected to His vine. Through that difficult season of pruning and weeding and tending, we were making space to bear fruit that will last.”

TP Top 3: Reasons to Sign up for Summer Dance Classes

Even though school-year classes are out of session, summer can be a great time to focus on dance. There are fewer distractions, less homework and no recital choreography to remember! At Turning Pointe, we promote safety through ongoing training, cross training, and intentional periods of rest. Our summer session classes are six weeks, giving both new and returning students a low-commitment opportunity to grow as dancers and use their gifts for God (with plenty of rest and open time on the summer calendar).

 Why? Because even with summer camps, vacations and other seasonal obligations, being diligent with attendance in summer dance classes will give you a huge advantage when regular classes start back up. Still not convinced? It’s as simple as retain, refresh and refine! Read on for more on our top three reasons to stay (or start!) dancing this summer, and why Turning Pointe Dance is the best place to take summer dance classes in Colorado Springs.

 

RETAIN

 Taking summer dance classes can help retain your muscle memory, minimize muscle soreness and chance for injury, and increase flexibility, strength and technique so you don't miss a beat when the school-year session starts up again in September. Students work hard during each school-year session. Don’t let your progress slide! Our muscles need to be active in their training. And just like our faith, when we ignore them, they lose their strength. By continuing your training through the summer months, you’re setting yourself up for strength and success!

 

REFRESH

 The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples. And as dancers, they're also our tools for worship! Summer classes are a great time to focus on the care and maintenance of your temple, whether that's building strength in a Ballet class, re-energizing your heart in a Worship class, or unwinding after a long season with a simple technique or improv concept class. Turning Pointe’s summer class schedule has everything from acting and vocal classes to combos and choreography, and strength and stretch, plus all the basics and classic classes you’re looking for. There’s even a class just to improve your floorwork! Whatever you need to reset your mind, body and skills, we’ve got a summer dance class for you.

 

REFINE

 What better way to refine your focus than to set some summer goals! Want to master that pirouette? How about getting all the way down in those left splits? Even if it's as simple as building strength in your ankles or improving your turnout, summer is the perfect time to work toward those milestones. With all that happens during the school-year session (between peek weeks, costumes, choreography, and progress reports), it’s easy to get distracted from your original focus or intention. Summer dance classes allow you to work steadily toward your goals without the other class obligations. You’ll be amazed at the progress you’ll make with six weeks of dedication!

 Ready to set your summer schedule? Our six week session starts June 10, and registration is open NOW! Find everything you need to know on our website, including registration and tuition requirements, class descriptions, and even the dress code for summer dance classes and camps.

 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

 — Romans 12:1

March: Bloom

“Bloom is one of my favorite words,” studio owner Tina Cook said, reflecting on the 20-year journey of Turning Pointe Dance. “In nature, when we see a bloom on a plant or tree, it’s a sign that fruit is coming. It indicates a time of beauty and freshness. I also love the old adage of blooming where we are planted, to not wish we were somewhere else in our journey, but to be content with where God has us in those moments—to let the petals of our lives unfold as worship before Him.”

 As the studio’s Bidecennial celebration grows closer to its finish line, and classes start to wrap up the steps for their final performance—as our students and families start to feel and see the first hints of spring, this month, we’re studying what it means to bloom, and praying through Isaiah 35:1-2…

 “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.  Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.”

 When a recital dance is finished, it feels like a preview of its grand finale. It brings about a sense of finality in what you’ve been working toward as you prepare to reach a final performance, under the lights, on the big stage. When a plant or a tree blooms, it’s a sign to us that fruit is on its way, and that the work done so far will pay off with a harvest. But a bloom is more than a promise. Each plant blossoms for a purpose, much like we, as Christians, were not saved from something, but for something even bigger. Some blooms produce pollen for the earth that helps other flowers grow. Others provide shade, food or habitats for the living things around them.

 You see, a plant doesn’t bloom through its own power. When planted and cultivated properly, it can’t help it! It doesn’t bloom for its own sake, and neither should we. If we’re truly blooming from being deeply rooted in Him, and offering our petals as worship, it’s our purpose to share the fragrance of salvation here on earth, and to spread the vibrant hues of His light to those around us.

 In 2012, having just grown into the Training Center, Turning Pointe began to bloom in its new space. And with that, began to share the beauty of God’s work to the surrounding community. The newly-formed companies and divisions took on service projects with Title III schools, worked volunteer shifts and collected donations for Care and Share Food Bank, and started performing for nursing homes in the area twice a year. Students went on the studio’s first mission trip, and boxes in the lobby began collecting donations for local shelters and resource centers. These initiatives are still alive, well, and growing today as we continue to live out our mission and connect our faith to action.

 But with blooming also comes expansion, be it in the form of larger blossoms or fruit itself. For Turning Pointe Dance, that meant another season of relocation after another season of growth.

 “I wanted to stay planted,” Cook said. “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? In 2017 our lease would be up at the Briargate Blvd and Union space, and it was apparent I needed to look for another solution. The growth was not slowing down and we were just out of space. We had bloomed where we were planted, and now needed to be repotted in a larger vessel.”

 But just as a plant can’t help but bloom, after the first decade of careful planting and cultivated dreams, in God’s perfect time, Turning Pointe blossomed through a process of details only He could orchestrate so smoothly.

 “Trembling and afraid, we took a step and purchased the 15,000 square-foot building that is now our beautiful Turning Pointe home at Library Lane,” Cook said. “I knew that once again, with this repotting, that growth would happen again. But this time I had a lot more help in the endeavor. My prayer has always been and always will be that I want Turning Pointe to be a place where we praise His name with dance. So whether we are in a 15,000 square-foot building or a carpeted church classroom, the heart and mission remains—it’s all about Him.”

 “There are days when I miss our small beginnings as a little seed or even a sprout, but then I look around at all of the beautiful blossoms and vibrant colors all around me in the people He has brought to this garden and I’m so thankful.”

Three Ways to GROW at Turning Pointe Dance!

All month long, our students and staff have been praying through the devotional prompt of GROW, dancing through what it means to let go of control and allow God to move in our progress. And while we’ve already covered the many benefits of dancing, did you know there are some simple things you can do to encourage growth and improvement in your training and overall experience? Read on for our favorite ways to GROW in your dance community, and why Turning Pointe Dance has the best dance community in Colorado Springs!

  1. Join a Company or Program

Did you know Turning Pointe Dance offers companies and programs for specialized training? In addition to our Enrichment Division classes, we offer a variety of growth opportunities from Cecchetti ballet syllabus/exam courses to a structured Teacher Assistant and Studio Intern Program. The Training Division was created for the classical ballet enthusiast, while STARZ Theater and Fidele Youth Dance Company offer additional training and performance experience in musical theater and worship dance, respectively.

Not only will these programs give you more chances to dance, more time to practice and more skills to perfect, just like joining a class or small group at church, auditioning for a company or interviewing for a studio program will put you right in the middle of a group of like-minded students, creating a community within the studio with similar interests and goals.
 

  1. Take Summer Classes

To put it simply, taking classes over the summer will help you GROW as a dancer! Summer can be a great time to focus on dance – there are fewer distractions, less homework and no recital choreography to remember. Refine your focus and set some summer goals. Want to master that pirouette? How about getting all the way down in those left splits? Even if it's as simple as building strength in your ankles or improving your turnout, summer is the perfect time to work toward those milestones. At Turning Pointe, we promote safety through ongoing training, cross training, and intentional periods of rest.

The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples. As dancers, they're also our tools for worship. Summer classes are a great time to focus on the care and maintenance of your temple, whether that's building strength in a Ballet class, re-energizing your heart in a Worship class, or unwinding after a long season with a simple technique or improv concept class. Even with summer camps, vacations and other obligations, being diligent with attendance in summer dance classes will give you a huge advantage when regular classes start back up. Retain muscle memory, minimize muscle soreness and chance for injury, increase flexibility, strength and technique so you don't miss a beat in September!

  1. Participate in Outreach

Turning Pointe Dance is committed to serving the Colorado Springs community, be it through opportunities within our companies and programs or through studio-wide service efforts. Helping your community is an opportunity to GROW as a person, and to better understand how your God-given gifts in dance and beyond can be used to serve the world around you.

Keep your eye on our monthly newsletters and Weekly Wednesday emails for information on upcoming outreach projects like community dance classes/performances, donation drives for partner organizations across the city, and Mission Trip fundraisers you can support. Through outreach involvement, not only will you live out the studio’s mission and values, which will enhance your growth and development, but you’ll be part of Turning Pointe Dance’s network of support for Colorado Springs, acting as God’s hands and feet for our neighbors in need.

Ready to dive in? Mark your calendars for these opportunities to GROW!

●      Parent Informational Meetings

Saturday, February 24, 2024

10 a.m.: Training Division

10:30 a.m.: Fidele Youth Dance Company

11:15 a.m. = STARZ Theater Company

●      Summer Class Registration Opens
Friday, March 1, 2024

●      STARZ Theater Company Auditions/Callbacks (Anastasia - Youth Edition)
Friday, April 5-Sunday, April 7, 2024

●      Training Division Auditions
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 or
Sunday, May 5, 2024

●      Baylee Hope Tutu (2.2-mile) Fun Run

Sunday, April 21, 2024

●      Donation Drive for Springs Rescue Mission
May 1-31, 2024

●      Fidele Youth Dance Company Auditions
Friday, May 31, 2024 (students age 10-13)
Saturday, June 1, 2024 (students age 14+)
●      Pointe Evaluations

Thursday, August 22, 2024

February: Grow

If you’ve been following along with our 20th anniversary devotions this year, you’re likely to have noticed a theme. In September, we prepared for the milestone year with Psalm 85:12-13. In October, we cultivated studio culture through Ezekiel 36:34. November saw a study of sowing in Psalm 126:5-6, and we nourished hearts in December through Deuteronomy 32:13. In January we focused on waiting in Psalm 27:14, all the while telling the story of God’s planting and raising up the Turning Pointe Dance we’re part of today.

 But February’s devotional focus takes us in a new direction—one that requires us to let go. One that requires us to surrender. One that requires trust. This month, we relinquish control and allow God to help us grow.

 “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”    — 1 Corinthians 3:7

 Plant analogies aside, each month’s devotion thus far has been a natural fit for us traditional, “Type A” dancers. Afterall, we can prepare the ground and adjust it ourselves as needed. We can control the soil and, in choosing their location, control how much sunlight our plants receive. We can do our own seed planting and handle all the watering ourselves. Even in the quieter phases of gardening, as a studio, we discussed how we work in the wait, taking personal responsibility for our end of God’s work in us. But February is not like the others. We can do everything right, and try to control every detail. But like this month’s verse says: Only God gives the growth. And back when Ms. Tina Cook’s dance classes outgrew their space in local churches, it was time for Turning Pointe to trust God, too.

 “In early 2011, we had some new signs of life, and our planted dream was sprouting and growing bigger everyday,” Cook said. “We finally found a place that was 3000 square feet (I was thinking 2000 originally) at Briargate Boulevard and Union. I remember it being a battle to come to terms on the cost of the buildout and rent. … But the next year in 2012, we opened the Training Center, which was an empty space on the end of our building to make another studio so we could offer more classes. We were already bursting at the seams. It wasn’t ideal as students had to walk outside to go back and forth between classes (and wave at the dog groomer that was our neighbor), but it worked.”

 Taking a leap of faith into a new facility took a lot of trust in God, and a lot of surrendering our plans to His. But letting go of the old made way for God’s growth, both in location and classes to the development of the Training Division, and the birth of STARZ Theater and Fidele Youth Dance Company shortly thereafter.

 “During these years there was a lot of amazing growth happening in so many areas, like teachers, students, programs and families,” Cook said. “But there were also growing pains like parking, the volume of communication I was trying to keep up with, dealing with the public and trying to keep everyone happy, and just the sheer amount of work that comes from scaling a business that is growing so quickly and keeping that balanced with my own family. It was a lot.”

 In the context of this month’s verse in 1 Corinthians, we hear Paul speaking to the division of the church, with some groups clinging to Paul himself while others held tightly to Apollos. But the aforementioned verse reminds us that God is the one who unites us. In doing so, Paul provides a great picture of the way the kingdom of God works, and how the gospel of God spreads through different people planting and different people watering. While we’ve already spoken to the many hands that have poured into the growth of our studio, it’s ultimately the Lord who provides, and who is the source of all that is good. As we look forward to the next 20 years of dancing for Him, we praise God for the ways He has used people to plant and water, and we pray that He would use us to plant and water in others’ lives, all so that we might let go and let Him receive exclusive glory in our growth. Not our way in our time, but His alone.

 “What I learned during this season is that just like in gardening, healthy things grow. Growing things change, and changing things change things,” Cook said. “In a growing season of our lives, we are often stretched beyond our comfort zone and our capacity is expanded so we can be prepared for what God’s plans are. My original dream was already way too small. This time of growth, change, and expansion was a season of shaping me and this dream to be a reflection of Him.”

January: Wait

 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”     — Psalm 27:14

 Even though we just started a brand new year, believe it or not, January is a bit slow. Over the last few months, we’ve been overwhelmed with back-to-school, fall activities, sports seasons, family gatherings, midterms, holidays, more holidays, and breaks. And now, now that it’s all behind us—we wait. We wait for recitals, for graduations and for summer vacations. We wait to hear back from colleges we applied to. We wait for reviews and evaluations. We wait for our resolutions to pay off. We wait for answers. So even though we just started a brand new year, believe it or not, January is the perfect time to be still—and wait.

 Dancers actually have a lot of experience with waiting. We wait in the wings for our cues. We wait at the barre for the combination to begin, and we wait our turn to go across the floor. We wait for the other groups in our class or our scene to perform their sections of choreography. We wait for the curtain to open. We wait for our big break. But just like in life, and just like David in Psalm 27 (where we find this month’s verse), this waiting is not a passive endeavor. We’re keeping our muscles warm. We’re staying flexible. We’re listening to the music. We’re watching our classmates and peers. We’re present on stage, actively holding our position until our cue to move on.

 While it might not look like much, there’s work that we do when we wait—and it’s just as important as any skill we might perform. Just like a planted seed might look like plain dirt for weeks at a time, we know the roots are taking shape beneath the surface, the same way we know God is working on our behalf, even when—especially when—we don’t see or hear Him.

 For Turning Pointe, a season of waiting came when its new roots were uprooted and faced with the decision to let go or re-pot.

 “At the beginning of our season in 2010, Pulpit Rock staff let me know that a school was going to be renting their entire building and that they could no longer accommodate any of my classes on any day for the next season,” studio owner Tina Cook said. “I had told myself that I would keep the business running this way (in a church) until my children were older and possibly out of the house. This was definitely not in my timeline to be out on my own. My kids were 2, 4, and 5 at the time.”

 “The first thing I did was pray and wait and wait and pray. I wanted to be sure that it was a definite yes to move ahead or to close down. At first I didn’t get a definite answer either way, and was so scared of the next step. But something I learned during that period of waiting was that I may not get the definitive answer I want, even if I pray and seek the Lord. There may not be a pillar of fire or the Red Sea parting, but there may be a still small voice calling me to take courage and know that if this dream is truly His and I take the next right step, He will be faithful.”

 Just as back then, the studio and it’s then-200 students looked for direction—the same way Noah waited for the rain, Daniel waited through the night with a den full of lions, David waited in the cave, and Abraham and Sarah waited for Isaac—this month, as a studio, we prepare together for our seasons of waiting, whatever and whenever they might be. Because we know that our God is always working on our behalf, if we only work in the wait, remaining faithful, and strong in our stillness.

 As we wait for our cues, we listen, knowing the teacher doesn’t always talk during the test. As we wait for our counts, we watch, knowing His works aren’t always within our scope of vision. We work in the wait. We refine our faith, our skills, and our patience, finding peace in the promise of Spring. As sure as the well-cultivated seed will sprout, our God has proven Himself faithful to act on behalf of His children time and time again. We can trust that He still acts for his children today. When we think we’re waiting, God is already working.   

“I’m so thankful for the waiting, for what I didn’t see coming,” Cook said, “for God working beneath the soil helping our roots grow deep. He provided like only He can.”