By Terra Avilla
When Peach exclaimed that she wanted to “dance,” I was ecstatic. I love to dance, I love to watch dance, and the thought of having my little munchkin wearing a tutu and having her hair in a bun while she’s dancing, made my heart swell with so much joy.
When I told Frankie that I wanted Peach to start dance classes, he stated he was worried that the structure of dance classes would be too difficult for Peach as she inherited her mother’s attention span.
I knew immediately that Nicole McCoy from House of Dance would foster Peach’s love of dance and music, but would also nurture her spirit. From the very first time Peach “leaped” into dance class with Ms. Nicole she has loved it.
I first met Nicole through Dancing for Brand New Me several years ago. She had a warmth about her that radiates, and I knew that poor woman, was going to be suckered into being my friend.
She just felt ‘safe.’ Turns out, I was right, Nicole is sweet and kind, soft and smart. I have never witnessed Nicole become angry nor does she ever appear agitated…. and trust me, my daughter would give anyone cause to be so.
Instead, she politely ushers Peach back into line or smiles and nods as Peach pauses every eight count or so to tell Nicole what her third favorite reptile is.
But surprisingly, through all of Peach’s self-created mayhem in class, Nicole is still able to teach Peach in a way she understands. The other day, Peach started doing the routine Ms. Nicole has been teaching the class in the mirror and Peach told me she “has to point her toesies.” A classic Ms. Nicole phrase.
The only other phrase I love more than that one, is when she affectionately calls the girls “tootsie.” “Get back in line Tootsie,” she’ll say softly to the girls when they start to run amuck.
Nicole is a beautiful dancer and a beautiful spirit. She raised her family (four beautiful children) in this town and has shared her love of dance and performance with countless people.
Nicole volunteers at Eagle Lake Village to teach the seniors a dance routine for exercise catered to them, every week. Nicole also volunteers her time and talent for Best of Broadway, and Dancing for a Brand New Me.
When Eric and I needed help choreographing our disco number Nicole jumped in and worked with the two of us… (and I would like to remind you our attention span is not that great either) and she worked tirelessly to help us get our performance squared away. Because she wanted to help.
Nicole teaches dance, not really to make a profit, but because she loves what she does and she wants every child to feel comfortable learning something new. Nicole teaches at House of Dance and pours so much of her own money into the studio, not to make a profit, but to keep it running so that little dancers like mine have a dance studio where they feel loved.
Nicole buys parts of their costumes out of her own money and refuses to be reimbursed. At last year’s Fair performance, she provided all of her dancers with goody bags as a thank you to them, for taking class with her.
She also has personally purchased dance shoes for little dancers that could not afford them because she wanted them to learn how to dance. She is as good as a human as they come. I am so happy that Peach has her as a role model and a teacher and I have her as my friend, as she is one of the reasons I love the place we live.
