Thomas Dances Once More
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Thank you for taking a moment to read the story I have shared below. I love and care about Thomas so much and this is only a tiny fraction of his story. - I want the world to hear it -
For those of you who don't know Thomas, he has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever met. His life has had many difficult challenges, some which I could never imagine facing. With strength and love he has always pulled through.
Thomas started dancing at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts when he was only 11 years old. Three years later he was awarded a full scholarship to attend a summer intensive program at the Houston Ballet. With additional recognition, he attended the summer intensive programs at San Francisco Ballet (SFB) on full scholarship leading to a year round traineeship as a top level student. SFB is one of the elite schools/companies in the world.
Due to some stressful personal circumstances during that year, he was unable to stay in San Francisco and returned to Cincinnati to perform as a guest artist. Shortly after his transition back to Ohio, he auditioned for a program run by Ethan Stiefel (of American Ballet Theater and motion picture “Center Stage” fame). This audition was held nation wide with thousands of young dancers hoping for a spot. Thomas was one out of 11 people to be accepted. Then, a few weeks after being accepted, he injured his back and was unable to dance.
Ethan called Thomas personally and asked him to come to Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah since he couldn't attend the original program.
Many people all over the nation knew: Thomas was born to dance.
Within the blink of an eye multiple tragedies occured that left Thomas under personal pressures to lead his family. In the cluster of trying to figure out the basics of survival, the priority of ballet had become a quieter voice each year.
In 2015 Thomas' Mom Tami passed away unexpectedly. Despite all of the hardship he had already encountered in life, this was by far the most devastating time period. She adored him and wanted nothing more than to see him live a full and happy life. She was his biggest fan when it came to ballet and would come to every show and stand in the back to film. She loved nothing more than to watch him perform and was always so incredibly proud. In fact, this is a video she filmed of us in high school when we danced in the Nutcracker together:
She did everything she could to give him the opportunity to live the greatest life possible. I know to this day, she would be filled with so much happiness to know that there was a possibility for him to dance again. Throughout the years, anytime I talked to her she would say things like "You two were meant to dance together..." and "I wish Thomas would dance again" ... So here I am Tami, doing my very best to make that a reality.
In recent conversation it has become clear to Thomas that it is time to reginite his passion. I have taken a handful of ballet classes with him in the past few months and.... he's still got it.
Our goal is to put together a high quality dance video so that we can share it with the world, his family and the people who would love to see him dance, even if just once more.
Thank you.
For those of you who don't know Thomas, he has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever met. His life has had many difficult challenges, some which I could never imagine facing. With strength and love he has always pulled through.
Thomas started dancing at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts when he was only 11 years old. Three years later he was awarded a full scholarship to attend a summer intensive program at the Houston Ballet. With additional recognition, he attended the summer intensive programs at San Francisco Ballet (SFB) on full scholarship leading to a year round traineeship as a top level student. SFB is one of the elite schools/companies in the world.
Due to some stressful personal circumstances during that year, he was unable to stay in San Francisco and returned to Cincinnati to perform as a guest artist. Shortly after his transition back to Ohio, he auditioned for a program run by Ethan Stiefel (of American Ballet Theater and motion picture “Center Stage” fame). This audition was held nation wide with thousands of young dancers hoping for a spot. Thomas was one out of 11 people to be accepted. Then, a few weeks after being accepted, he injured his back and was unable to dance.
Ethan called Thomas personally and asked him to come to Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah since he couldn't attend the original program.
Many people all over the nation knew: Thomas was born to dance.
Within the blink of an eye multiple tragedies occured that left Thomas under personal pressures to lead his family. In the cluster of trying to figure out the basics of survival, the priority of ballet had become a quieter voice each year.
In 2015 Thomas' Mom Tami passed away unexpectedly. Despite all of the hardship he had already encountered in life, this was by far the most devastating time period. She adored him and wanted nothing more than to see him live a full and happy life. She was his biggest fan when it came to ballet and would come to every show and stand in the back to film. She loved nothing more than to watch him perform and was always so incredibly proud. In fact, this is a video she filmed of us in high school when we danced in the Nutcracker together:
She did everything she could to give him the opportunity to live the greatest life possible. I know to this day, she would be filled with so much happiness to know that there was a possibility for him to dance again. Throughout the years, anytime I talked to her she would say things like "You two were meant to dance together..." and "I wish Thomas would dance again" ... So here I am Tami, doing my very best to make that a reality.
In recent conversation it has become clear to Thomas that it is time to reginite his passion. I have taken a handful of ballet classes with him in the past few months and.... he's still got it.
Our goal is to put together a high quality dance video so that we can share it with the world, his family and the people who would love to see him dance, even if just once more.
Thank you.
Organizer
Kate Flowers
Organizer
Cincinnati, OH
