Today, with Christmas just around the corner, we’re thinking of those studios and families still recovering from October’s Hurricane Sandy. Let’s not forget this reality from a few short weeks ago: 

“It’s tough, and quite surreal, I have to be honest. I feel terrible for my families, many whom are displaced and don’t have a home to go back to. I live in Rutherford, NJ, and luckily we still have power. We’ve taken in some families who now don’t have homes. I’ve heard that Hoboken doesn’t look the same, that it’s unrecognizable.

We want to bring back some normalcy for the kids, so we’re hoping to start classes again tomorrow [Nov 6] for any families who can come. It’s sensitive. We have to be accommodating to the parents who are displaced all over the East Coast. It’s going to take time.”

Bethany Marc-Aurele owns New Jersey’s Hudson Dance & Movement, a studio that is lucky to be up and running in the wake of Sandy. In fact, it recently presented The Nutcracker as a benefit concert for the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund.

Stay tuned for more from Marc-Aurele in an upcoming issue of DT, and let us know how your studio is doing in the continuing wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Photo by Lucas Jackson for Reuters