Myrle Larson Memorial Fund
When I was a child, dancing at J&L Academy of Dance Arts, Myrle Larson was the studio manager. She did all the administrative work for the studio - billing and collecting tuition, paying teachers, ordering the perfect recital costumes for every class. As I grew up and started to work at J&L first as a teacher’s assistant, then a teacher, eventually her successor, and finally a studio owner myself, she became so very much more! She was a mentor, a friend, a second mother, an extra grandmother to hundreds of dance students, a therapist to parents of aspiring ballerinas, a listening ear, a cheerleader, a mediator, a voice of reason, I could go on and on… I think that almost every day since her passing, I have asked myself “What would Myrle do?” What advise would she give to handle employees? What opinion would she have on business matters? What words of wisdom would she have in navigating COVID as a dance studio? I miss her - especially during these last few years that have been so difficult on so many levels.
When I decided to open Rising Phoenix Dance Center, I felt compelled to remember her as someone who has influenced my life in so many positive ways. I started the Myrle Larson Memorial Fund for the studio in an effort to give our current students unique dance experiences/opportunities and to pay for scholarships for students who want to learn dance.
Myrle loved dance, she loved her job at the studio, she loved the students, and she loved putting on the annual end of season recital. I have come to realize the vast importance of her role. Dance studio owners are entrepreneurial visionaries. Dance educators are creative teachers and makers of art. Myrle was literally the heartbeat of the studio. As someone who has worked in, directed, and/or owned studios for the past 30 years, I believe that without someone in this role, the studio cannot survive without a heartbeat. I continue to remember her with love, respect, and gratitude in having known her. May her influence continue to inspire young dancers as it did me.
-Sarah Goar, Owner Rising Phoenix Dance Center
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