Rest in Peace, Miss Jozia Mieszkowski
Thank you for summer ballet camp in 7th (?) grade. Thank you for Governor's School. Thank you for Dew Drop and Graduation Ball and Snow Queen and Coppelia. Thank you for New York choreographers and professional dancers. Thank you for your own works. Thank you for mentoring our own choreography.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for Aurora.
Thank you for untold hours of laughter, instruction, friendship, sweat, tears, motivation, and training. Thank you for always being ready to make it happen. Thank you for working a ridiculous amount of unpaid hours so that some college kids and kids from a little town like Columbus, MS could perform in world class ballets. With real sets and real costumes and real music and real staging.
Thank you for loving ballet the way you did. Thank you for never letting me get away with anything in the rehearsal hall.
Thank you for telling Kadie that you didn't think I was strong enough for Aurora. (And thank you, Boo, for telling me that she said that!)
Thank you for the opportunity to show myself just how hard I'm willing to work to reach a goal.
Thank you for pushing me to my limit, and then expecting more.
Thank you for having more energy and passion than most of us combined.
I'll be talking of you for the rest of my life - you will never be forgotten. And you will always, always be loved. By me, and the huge numbers of dancers whose lives you touched in so many wonderful ways throughout your blessed life.
Thank you, Miss Jozia. Thank you.
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1 comment:
Beautiful post, dear Leah. After hearing the news yesterday, I've had quite a flood of vivid memories:
I will never forget the first time I saw Jozia. It was at Dr. Strobel's house for a Governor's School dinner in July of 1988. I had no idea who she was but could not help but watch her as she moved through the crowd. Even sitting and talking with other teachers, she captivated my attention. She moved with such poise and grace, and at the same time she exhibited such spirit and joy.
In the fall of '89 I returned to MUW as a freshman theatre major, and I had decided to get my dance credit "out of the way." Though Jozia's presence had struck me so at the picnic the prior summer, so had her reputation as a demanding teacher, and I was more than intimidated to begin ballet as a college student. However, Jozia's love and passion for dance soon took hold of me as well, and though I eventually changed majors, I took dance for 7 of my 8 semesters at MUW. Her dance studio was my refuge during those years, and Jozia became a very dear friend and mentor. My life is richer for having known her. Thank you, my dear Jozia.
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