Carlsbad Dance Images' 30th Annual Dance Recital & Benefit

Carlsbad CA

10 June, 2022

6:58 PM

Description

For more years than she cares to admit, Linda Wilkerson has been instilling a love for the art of dance in her students throughout the Carlsbad and Encinitas communities. She is the epitome of positivity and energy and she is about to pull off her 30th dance recital: "Dancing Around the World," June 18, at Palomar College's Howard Brubeck Theater For decades, "Miss Linda" as she's known to her students has taught ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical classes at the Carlsbad Harding Center, Dance North County, and currently at Sq.Fit Studio in Carlsbad. During the pandemic, she was determined to keep dance alive for her students and began teaching her classes outside at a park across the street from her house. Instead of a dance recital, she had each class's routine filmed separately and did an outdoor viewing party. Her tireless dedication to her students and their families keep her going and she doesn't have any plans to slow down. "I'll retire when I don't love it anymore" she was heard saying at a recent recital photo shoot. That love comes through in her ability to nurture and support dancers of all ages and abilities. "I believe it is important to cultivate a learning environment that is healthy, all-inclusive, welcoming, and fun!" says Wilkerson. Linda's focus on getting kids to LOVE dance may be why so many students have grown up with Miss Linda and feel like she is family. She actively supports her dancers outside of the studio by attending their events, graduations, and some weddings! Her adult students are now bringing their own children to her dance classes. She also has former students working for her, teaching classes and learning how to run the business. These are just a few of the positive, full circle moments commonly found at Carlsbad Dance Images - a feeling that is palpable during her dance recitals. This year's recital, "Dancing Around the World," marks Carlsbad Dance Images' 30th performance. "The students are so excited to be able to return to the stage with a live audience and showcase what they have learned this year," says Wilkerson. A LOT goes into putting on a dance recital: securing the venue, ordering the costumes, recruiting volunteers, and teaching dance routines to make the two hour show as entertaining as possible. "I still worry about getting it all done. I do lose sleep, but when it all comes together… it's magic." Miss Linda wants the audience (usually made up of family and friends of the dancers) to enjoy a recital full of variety both musically and stylistically. Just watching the 3-5 year old petite ballerinas and little tap dancers perform is well worth the price of admission! It's also for a good cause - Conner's Cause for Children! Miss Linda has long partnered with Conner's Cause to help raise money for this organization AND to teach her students the importance of helping others. Conner's Cause for Children is a San Diego non-profit providing critical assistance to families struggling to cover the out of pocket costs of caring for a child with a life-threatening illness or injury. They make sure that no child goes without medical services or proper in-home care because of a family's lack of resources. Miss Linda has donated a portion of the proceeds from her dance recitals to this organization for the past 26 years, raising well over $35,000! The pandemic severely impacted the fundraising opportunities for Conner's Cause for Children while soaring gas and food prices are creating even more need amongst this vulnerable community. Carol Del Signore, executive director of Conner's Cause says, "We are so grateful and so honored that Linda and all of the dance families have been supporting Conner's Cause for more years than I can remember. We help families just like yours. The big difference is that the families we help have children who are battling all kinds of diseases and suffering from traumatic injuries. What we try to do is ease their burden a little bit. We are very grateful for Linda's support." CDI's "Dancing Around the World" is on June 18, 2022. There is one show at 11am and one at 6pm, at the Howard Brubeck Theatre, Palomar College, 1140 W Mission Road in San Marcos. Tickets are available online at https://21803.recitalticketing... through June 16th. Tickets will be sold at the door one hour prior to each show. Masks and health screenings are required. Conner's Cause is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, tax id# 33-0638077. Please visit www.connerscause.org for more information or to make a donation. Carlsbad Dance Images (https://sddanceimages.com) is located inside of Sq. Fit Studios at 6802 Embarcadero Lane, Carlsbad CA 92011. Owner, Linda Wilkerson, started dancing at the age of 10 and at 14 she received a scholarship to attend the American School of Dance in Hollywood. She trained under the direction of Eugene Loring and took master classes from Robert Joffrey, Marcel Marceau, and many others. She went on to own, direct, and teach at Village School of Dance in Los Angeles for 18 years. VSD was a competitive dance studio and won multiple awards in competitions at the national level. In 1991, Linda sold her LA studio and moved to San Diego where she began Carlsbad Dance Images, aka CDI. Having already run a successful LA competition studio, Miss Linda purposely chose to make Carlsbad Dance Images a non-competitive, safe and loving space to ignite the passion for dance in each child. "Dancing shapes a student physically, mentally and emotionally. I want to build our children's self-esteem and give them the confidence that we all need in life. A positive environment can only help build that confidence."