Congrats to our Dance Instructor Judi Fiore

Judi Fiore

Thank you Judith ‘Judi’ Fiore for mentioning “Saratoga Bridges Dancers” in her profile featured on Saratoga Dance’s website!  Our individuals package one of their featured products Bunheads at Alpha Industries.

We love Judi and nominated her for the 2014 Saratoga Springs Rotary Club Senior Citizen of the Year Award.  This is what we said about Judi —

Judi’s relationship began with Saratoga Bridges in October of 2010 as her love of dance became incorporated into a weekly day program activity.  When she was asked if she would be interested in teaching individuals with developmental disabilities — she readily agreed.  Judi feels that dance is a universal form of expression.  She wholeheartedly believes everyone can dance as it is a part of the human experience we all share and that it is a lot of fun and hugely rewarding.   Under her direction, the class members have had three recitals and are now learning dances for their next show.  So far, they have performed dances from the US, Israel, Mexico, Greece, France and West Africa.  These integrate various music genres including folk, jazz, rap, rock & roll, drums, classical music and their own creations.  By practicing weekly they have come to appreciate the discipline and focus dance requires as well as the need to work with other people as partners, in a set or in an ensemble.  They are now a real dance community who share the richly rewarding joy of dance and all look forward to their next show.

JudiFioreand group2

In addition, dance has nurtured and nourished Judi’s body, mind and spirit throughout her whole life.  She feels very fortunate to be able to continue to dance in all its glorious varieties.  As it has been her lifelong passion, she enjoys sharing that passion with others.  For that reason, she is a volunteer docent at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga where she gives tours and discusses the great dancers and choreographers featured.  Judi loves to engage young children and describe story ballets like Sleeping Beauty, the museum’s exhibit about animals and movement in the movies.  Being with fellow Senior Citizens presents opportunities for them to bond over memories.

Also, Judi is an active member of The Academy for Lifelong Learning (A.L.L.).  For over ten years she has taken wonderful courses on numerous topics.  Since A.L.L. is a volunteer run organization, Judi has taught with a colleague “The History of Dance” and “Staged Readings”.  These were so successful that they offered it three times.

Judi has shown a true commitment to Saratoga Bridges’ missions.  According to Lynn Haggerty, our staff liaison, she relays that our dancers simply love Judi!  Lynn states, “She brings such contagious enthusiasm for dancing that our class time flies by.  Judi really thinks a lot about the abilities of the dancers and keeps trying to challenge them without overwhelming them.  If something doesn’t work she changes it.  She is willing to work with anyone who wants to participate regardless of their physical challenges and expects people to give 100% rather than just going through the motions.  We are so lucky to have Judi with us.”

In conclusion, Judi’s motto encapsulates her philosophy “Life continues to be a rich and diverse journey and I am fortunate to have the time to pursue the things that I love and to continue to share them with others.”

JudiFioreand group

Here is Judi in action with her dancers.  Her love of dance is contagious and is making a huge impact on our individuals as another means of creative expression!