Dance to the States (and home again!)

Hey everyone, as you probably know if you have ever met me, dancing is the love of my life. I've danced for 20 years (!!!), and spent the last 5 dedicating every waking moment to swing dance - practicing it, teaching it, talking about it, promoting it, and loving every little bit of it! My dance/business partner and very best friend Michael and I took the helm of Full Swing Vintage Dance Co. last year, and dove headlong into growing the school, developing the community and doing our best to make swing in Wellington a massive force to be reckoned with.

I now have a fantastic opportunity - I've been invited to head over to Washington DC to dance and work with my dear friend and super spectacular dancer extraordinaire Bobby White for several weeks. I've bought my ticket and I leave on the 13th of July!

Unfortunately, due to circumstances completely outside of our control, the building that houses the Full Swing studios was closed without warning last week, and will not be reopened until August for safety reasons. This means that Full Swing is not able to operate, and Michael and I suddenly have zero income for the next few months... and I don't have a ticket home yet. As we still have bills to pay while no money is coming in, I don't have funds to survive while I'm there either, which is pretty important, but more pressing is that without a return ticket I am not able to get a visa, and without a visa I will be unable to go.

This trip is something I have been hoping for and planning for a very long time. The last few months have been a struggle, navigating a downturn in my chronic illness and pain to dance and work as hard as ever on the business I love, and to have that suddenly taken away (thankfully temporarily) has been very difficult. The likelihood that this trip might also suddenly be out of the question is really hard to consider.

I am not normally someone who asks for help, with the business, my illness, my life in general - I have a really great life and I love it, and I am incredibly proud and lucky to be able to do all the things I do with all the wonderful people who do them too.

Though I don't want to ask for help, right now I might need some. I am organising a fundraising sale and gig in Wellington this coming Sunday, and I would love to see anyone who'd like to support me getting over to the States and back home again (and who wants to buy some cool things and see some cool performances!) there. I've created this campaign alongside the gig. If you are a friend, near or far, and you feel like you would like to help me out, a little, big or small, in dollars or just loveliness (that's fine too!) thank you. It means a huge amount to me.