Airdrie dance instructor wins international award

Abstract

"It was an incredible honour to be recognized in front of such a large community of dance professionals," [Tara Pickford] said. "There are many people in that community that I aspire to learn from."

Serving 68,000 students a week and with schools in 39 American states and three Canadian provinces, as well as Aruba, Australia and Dubai, [Misty Lown] said the leadership award is given to the "top of the top" leader who strives to build a higher standard in curriculum, teacher training, professional management and community involvement. "Those are the four areas we stake our reputation on," Lown said. "(The leadership award is given to) somebody who has taken all elements of the program and put them into practice to make the school, community and business a better place."

"That's such a beautiful part of (Pickford's) journey," Lown said. "She just refused to give up."

The leadership of an Airdrie dance instructor was recognized on an international level by More Than Just Great Dancing (MTJGD) - a licensed affiliation of 177 dance schools from around the world - in Chicago Oct. 19.

Listening as the recipient was described, Tara Pickford, founder of Ambition Performing Arts (APA) in Airdrie, said she scanned the crowd wondering who it might be.

Failing to connect the dots back to herself, she said it was a surprise when her name was finally called.

"It was an incredible honour to be recognized in front of such a large community of dance professionals," Pickford said. "There are many people in that community that I aspire to learn from."

She said when she opened APA in 2002, she hoped to create a safe environment for children to learn, take pride in what they do and become community leaders.

With about 10 per cent of students in the program going on to pursue dance professionally, Pickford said the rest are there to build essential life skills that benefit many other careers.

"We pride ourselves on beginner dancers being our specialty," she said.

Pickford has been dancing since she was three years old and said she settled into her career of teaching after realizing that was the work her heart was truly set in.

Leadership, she said, is not just about leading staff but also about setting an example in the community. "It's being a global leader in what we're doing and setting standards that are higher than we're being asked to

be held to," Pickford said. "It's going above and beyond and ensuring kids are getting good training and becoming great community leaders."

Misty Lown, founder of the Wisconsin-based MTJGD, said the evidence of leadership is in the creation of other leaders.

Serving 68,000 students a week and with schools in 39 American states and three Canadian provinces, as well as Aruba, Australia and Dubai, Lown said the leadership award is given to the "top of the top" leader who strives to build a higher standard in curriculum, teacher training, professional management and community involvement. "Those are the four areas we stake our reputation on," Lown said. "(The leadership award is given to) somebody who has taken all elements of the program and put them into practice to make the school, community and business a better place."

With a front row view as Pickford's journey unfolded through monthly calls and email chats, Lown said the Airdrie instructor had to overcome significant challenges in both the business world and her personal life.

Lown said Pickford never gave up and dug deep to grow APA to what she had wanted it to be all along.

"That's such a beautiful part of (Pickford's) journey," Lown said. "She just refused to give up."

Pickford said she named her company ambition for a reason. With singing and piano lessons also offered at APA, she said there are ambitions to continue expanding.

"We've seen some impressive growth in the past few years," she said. "We're prepared to launch ourselves into some pretty exciting times over the next couple of years."

Credit: Rocky View Publishing

Illustration

Submitted, For Rocky View Publishing / SUBMITTED-For Rocky View Publishing EXEMPLIFYING LEADERSHIP - Tara Pickford (right) founder of Ambition Performing Arts in Airdrie, was awarded the More Than Just Great Dancing leadership award by founder Misty Lown at a meeting in Chicago Oct. 19.;