Dancing Through Life

What if you were able to take your weaknesses, failings, and disappointments and channel them into something life-changing for others? This is the power of one!  Alycesun Marie Clare (or Miss Clare, as her students know her) is a great example of this in her life.

Aly has a story of deep despair and heartache as well as rising from the depths to reach some high heights.  Just a few months after she was happily married to the man of her dreams—her world turned upside-down. He left her, but this isn’t a story of her dark days; this is a story about how she rose from the ashes.

Q: Your story is a phoenix rising out of the ashes type of story. What led you to come to Arizona and work at American Leadership Academy (ALA) (Charter High School)? 

A: …In 2010, I was living in Orem, Utah. I was married to my dream husband, and thought my story was just at the beginning of its greatness. I was teaching at a private school, and had the potential of some excellent progression in that company.

In April of that year, my husband left me. I had heard of such things happening to people around me–some even close friends–and my heart would ache for them. I was always so grateful that it was not me. Now, during this extremely difficult time, I knew that my life story was not only out of my hands, but was about to take a crash course that didn’t look too enticing.

A few months later, I went to Africa. While on this incredible journey, I made a decision–that I wanted to become better from my divorce. I didn’t know how or where to even begin, but I still wanted a great story to tell of my life.

When I came home, a few messages were waiting for me. One was from a man in my family’s area, whom I had known through acquaintances. He asked me if I would be willing to come teach at private/charter school in Queen Creek, Arizona, starting in just a few weeks. The idea of getting away from my bad situation and having the opportunity for a new beginning sold me, and I packed up my little car and drove to Arizona two weeks later.

I had been told that the school was small. It was just at its beginning stages, and they said it would be “quite the journey” for us all. This was truly an understatement. Our enrollment was 80 high school students. We were in a small strip mall corner with just seven classrooms, eight or nine teachers, and a banner that read, ‘American Leadership Academy’.

Q.  When you came to ALA what were your expectations? What did you think would occur? 

A. HA! Oh dear, my expectations were quite high when I came to ALA. You have to understand I was coming from an incredibly successful private school in Utah. The clientele was incredible, the atmosphere was like you walked into a fairy tale, and the security was strong.

I think I also brought a little bit of entitlement with me from my divorce. I think I believed that because I had something so challenging happen in my life–something that I didn’t deserve–that I was entitled to an outpouring of blessings and having everything go amazing for me. I felt so confident in my desire to make a great story of life, that I thought the process would be like clockwork. I looked at ALA as a “one year experience” to get me back on my feet and teach me some great lessons as I continued to try and “kick butt” with this story of mine.

Q. Looking back, four years later, what do you see as the pivotal moments that shaped who you are and what you’ve been able to do?

A.  Looking back, I have realized that there were many, many pivotal moments that shaped who I am and what I have done. The most challenging but life-changing belief system I gained was that this wasn’t about me–not fully. I was determined to have a great story–to show to the world that I really wasn’t someone who deserved to be left by her husband. But I didn’t realize I was a part of a much greater story–one interwoven with so many other stories–which I believe makes it so much more enjoyable to read.

One important moment was when I was sitting in my room in the corner of the school building. This room served as the lunch room, weight room, and game room as well as my dance room. I had secured 40+ small, square mirrors and glued them into a somewhat straight, larger square for the students to see themselves in while they danced. The problem was that bodies reflected in these mirrors looked totally distorted. On this particular day, I was feeling very sorry for myself. In fact, I felt like an absolute loser. I remember thinking, “This is just great. My life has come to this. I am a loser in my life, I am a loser in my personal relationships, and I am teaching at a loser school.” Just then, out of the corner on my eye, I saw movement outside. I looked out the window and saw about ten students all teaching each other the new cha cha move they had learned that day. I saw a student who I believed dealt with severe depression as well as extremely low self esteem, and I watched as her face just lit up. She was dancing with one of our more popular, good-looking boys, and she would giggle, make eye contact, and then concentrate on not biffing it. It was adorable. More importantly, it was a scenario that would happen over and over and over again in my story that year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUmMzkCNxY

Q. Tell me a little history about the America Leadership Academy Dance Program(s)?

A. Alright, a little bit of a timeline. Truthfully, as staff we knew that we needed an “it” factor for the school. We were surrounded by huge public schools, and the idea that we could ever be larger than 80 students was a bit of a joke to the community. I shared with the other staff that I had minored in Dance Education and had done Ballroom in college. I suggested that I teach a dance class. I knew that, in all reality, dance was definitely not a “cool factor”–ESPECIALLY not for boys. So my job became making dance cool.

So, January of 2011 we started the FIRST Social Dance 1 Class. I basically forced 15 students into the class, promising them that they would LOVE it. We learned the ChaCha, the Waltz, and the Triple Swing. And we had a blast. I made sure to make the Student Body President, star athlete, and handsome Jr, Jordan, the ring leader of this class. The next quarter, more students wanted to join, and we ended the year with about 30 out of the 80 enrolled students taking dance.

By August of 2011 we had about 120 students enrolled at ALA. We were still in the strip mall, but were told that if we kept building enrollment a school would be built for us. Out of the 120 students, about 100 students signed up for dance. So I started 2 other classes. We now had Social Dance 1, Social Dance 2, and Hip Hop. I brought in my friend Clayton Ashcraft, and he helped create a strong Hip Hop Culture at the school. By May of 2012 we had raised our enrollment to 160 students, about 130 of whom were involved in the dance program.

August 2012, our enrollment exploded. We were now hosting 350-400 high school students, as well as about 450 junior high students. Our new school was built, and with it came a gorgeous dance room. During the year of 2012-13, I had 350+ dance students. I was now teaching dance full time, with an added-on class of Advanced Dance. By May 2013, I had pulled together a handful of students to meet after school for an Audition Hip Hop Crew as well as a Ballroom Team. I had also started to teach after school classes to children from the ages of 4-18. We hired on a junior high dance teacher to help in the massive growth of the classes.

This year I am teaching Social Dance 1, Social Dance 2, Advanced Dance, Ballroom Team, Hip Hop/Lyrical. My enrollment this semester has been about 450+ students. Adding on the after school classes offered to all ages, I am teaching dance to about 500 students. Whew!

Q. What kind of advice would you give somebody trying to make their dreams come true?

A. …Believe that there is a master storyteller who knows you more than perhaps you know yourself and keep him involved in that process. He makes MUCH more out of your story than you could…Trust him.

Q. How has dance changed your life?

A. Dance hasn’t changed my life. These kids have. Dance was just an added bonus to an incredible journey. It is truly a universal language that holds so much power. I love dance. I love what it has done for me personally. But again, it is the relationships that dance has brought into my life that have changed me.