This is a post about three companies I really, really like.
The first of these you all know about if you've been reading my blog for any length of time. Studio East is a home-away-from-home for us, a teacher, a counselor, an employer, a volunteer opportunity, a place to find new friends and reconnect with old ones, and above all, really excellently great at what they do. And what they do is legion. There are up to eight "mainstage" plays per year, homeschooling classes, school break classes, summer camps (including YAPI - the Young Actors Performance Intensive - which is the six-week-long performing arts camp for teenagers, and it's well... intense), community events like the Kirkland Independence Day Parade, and opportunities for the older students to work as camp counselor assistants to earn some of their own tuition.
I'm sure there are more things that I've forgotten because there are just so many things they do, but there you are. What they're doing right now? Tonight is opening night for Peter and the Starcatcher, running for three weekends. Come see it; it's hilarious!
While we're talking about the Performing Arts, I want to tell you about 4/4 School of Music. You see, while Abby thrives in the quick-change atmosphere of musical theater, and Lizzy enjoys her time there, Liz needs more structure in her day-to-day to succeed. We first started her with private piano lessons, and the instructor was nice enough, but her method was pretty inflexible and focused on form. Lizzy just wants to play the piano, and she needs a teacher willing to accommodate her quirks. We switched to 4/4 School of Music just over a year ago and we love it there. Our teacher, Michelle C., teaches at both the Canyon Park and Lynnwood schools, and the place has schools in several different states, while still managing to be a family business.
Most importantly, Michelle learned the best ways to accommodate Lizzy very very quickly, most notably getting very specific as to how to practice; instead of saying "practice for half an hour," which is way too unspecific for Liz, she made a chart (on her own initiative) with the number of times Lizzy should practice each piece, scale, arpeggio, chord, etc. And while Lizzy may be picking this stuff up more slowly than some of Michelle's other students (like her maternal grandfather, she has an excellent ear, so if it "sounds wrong" she has trouble sticking to the written music), she's enjoying herself, learning a valuable skill and discipline, and getting some daily routine for something that's not "just school."
Now, speaking of Lizzy, my last company of the post is Awesome. In fact, it's Princess Awesome. The idea is that just because your kid is a girl, it's still okay - even encouraged - for her to love both pink and trains, or sparkles and math, or frills and dinosaurs. And it was a problem for these two moms who started the company - as it was for me - because as a rule, you can find the pink, sparkly frills in the girls' section, and the trains, math, and dinos in the boys' section. This led to a lot of pairings (at least at our house) of orange stem t-shirts marketed for boys with pink, sparkly, frilly skirts. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not the best look ever, either. So these lovely ladies - read about them and their brand at the link above - made Princess Awesome for these girls. Zoom in on Lizzy's Dancing Robots dress and headband under the Girl Scout Vest.
What's that? What about boys? The boys' line - Boy, Wonder - is coming out in spring or summer. As is the adult women's line, up to size 26 (though I don't know if they're calling that something different. Queen Awesome, maybe?) and with some stretch. It's a goal for me, as I generally wear a 28/30. And in the meantime, I can wear their accessories, like the awesome (ha!) game-controller infinity scarf.
Support these guys, folks, really. They're good stuff, made (or taught) by good people.
