On Saturday, February 6, the Arthur Murray Natick studio hosted an amazing event for Haiti relief.  We had approximately 200 people in attendance and collected almost $10,000 in donations.  We all enjoyed very powerful performances by Yanvalou Drum and Dance Ensemble from Wellesley College, a great find by Melissa Koch!   And of course, what unbelievable professional dance shows by Stanislav Ivanov, Gabriela Coufalova, Kia Kenney and Brett Giza from our own area Arthur Murray studios.  Their dances are always very entertaining!

We’d like to send out a huge thank you to everyone who donated their time, resources and imagination to create a very impressive event in only 2 weeks!  Amazing!  To all companies and individuals who donated items or money, we send out an especially grateful thank you!  Attendees from MASSabda (Massachusetts Ballroom Dancers Association) supported the event with an enthusiastic group.  Valerie Cenat introduced the Deronette brothers  and their wonderful Haitian music and dancing .  In addition, Valerie shared some of her Haitian music that was played at the party.  As a reminder, Valerie is still looking for First Aid kits and products, canned foods, toiletries, clothing and shoes to take to Haiti at the end of February. She will be leaving on 2-28-10 with the “What’s Mine Is Yours” charitable organization.  You can donate at our Natick or Boston studio.

We couldn’t have a fun party without great music!  A BIG thank you to DJ Dilson for donating his amazing sound and equipment and to Jane Rocha for coordinating DJ Dilson’s time!  Kudos go to Carol and Daniel for working together and putting in many hours to pull together a great playlist!

We are looking forward to seeing great pictures and videos taking by Bill Wynn and a special thank you to Bill for his personal interviews with some of the guests at the event who have been personally touched by this tragedy.

Carol, Olga and the Natick Staff