Hello, and welcome to En Pointe! This is such an exciting time with the launch of my new company. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you the story of how En Pointe came to be.
Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamt of becoming a Professional Ballerina. What I loved the most about dancing, was that I could tell a story through movement while also becoming a completely different person through the character I was portraying. In order to do that, I had to find a sense of freedom and let my guard down so that the audience could understand what I was trying to say though the choreography. Some people may think a ballerina’s career is an easy one, but it’s not. Yes, we get to dance around and play dress up every single day of our lives, but there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that goes into making it look so easy. For example, try wearing pointe shoes and being “En Pointe” (pun intended) for eight hours straight.
I met my fiancé while dancing, actually. At the time we were both working for the Louisville Ballet in Kentucky. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him that he was my forever love. After three years of living in Louisville, we were fortunate enough to find work together with the Ballet du Capitole and moved to Toulouse, France. After two years though, our careers took us on different paths. I moved to Copenhagen, Denmark to dance with the Royal Danish Ballet, and he moved to Estonia to dance with the Estonian National Ballet. After one year, he returned back home to Canada. We continued to live apart and have a long distance relationship for FOUR YEARS!!!! Anyone who has ever been in one knows how difficult that can be. As dancers we are taught at a very young age that sacrifices will have to be made in order to have our careers, but love was one sacrifice I was not willing to give up. After four years of long distance, I decided it was time for me to hang up my pointe shoes and move to Toronto to chase another passion of mine, event planning.
Event planning has always been something that has been an interest of mine from which I partly contribute to my mother’s doing. When my sister and I were younger, our mother would always go above and beyond to plan the best birthday parties we could have ever dreamed of. The joy that these birthday parties brought us is something I will never forget, which in part is what inspired me to want to go into the event planning business.
While I performed, it was always my goal to touch at least one person’s heart in the audience. Now, I have the same goal with my business. Event planning is a very personal experience between the planner and their clients. I want to make sure that every event, whether it’s a wedding, birthday party or just an intimate dinner party with friends, is one that brings you joy. As a planner, I am happy when I see that my clients are happy. Hopefully there’s no blood involved in pulling off an event, but the sweat from hard work, and the tears of joy you will have are what I live for now.
At heart, I will always be a dancer, and the time I spent performing on the stage I will never forget. I will always be grateful to have had a career that allowed me to experience different cultures and to travel the world while living out my passion. I always knew that at some point, the time would have come to an end, and I would need to transition into another career, but who knew it would still be one that I loved.
So there’s the story of how En Pointe came to be, a blending of two passions into one. Whether I’m dancing around in my office or planning your next event, “I will always be ‘En Pointe’ from start to finish.”
I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed telling you.