"A shift has occurred at Waves Studio, a change that Amara and I feel really positive and confident about. I will tell you about this change starting with a little known story...

Amara and I started Waves Studio at 510 Columbia St in Olympia, almost seven years ago, not because we had a specific vision for what Waves Studio is today, but mostly because we needed a laboratory for Amara and myself to develop as 5Rhythms teachers. We were dancing in the Olympia Ballroom, which was great, but we kept getting bumped from the ballroom because of things like weddings and state meetings. So feeling the need for more focus we found an empty warehouse space and after some all night work parties Waves Studio began, originally known as Heart and Soul. Waves Studio has definitely helped us to develop as teachers, in more ways than we could have imagined all those years ago. But something else happened, something truly remarkable.

An incredible dancing community developed. Dancers from the ballroom came with us to the new studio. Three years later dancers came down the street to the second Waves Studio space, while many new dancers joined our community. Meanwhile we began offering more 5Rhythms workshops per year than in any other 5Rhythms community, and developed a program of five classes per week that is still going strong. Then a few years later we moved again, to our current location, bringing our seasoned community with us, and always adding new dancers. Over these years, a vast and diverse community of 5Rhythms dancers was born and nurtured. In this community, babies have been born, dancers and family have died, couples have formed, people have moved here from far away to be part of Waves Studio, and people have moved away. Some Waves Studio dancers have even become 5Rhythms teachers.

Now, 5Rhythms dancers from Maui to NYC and from Australia to London know about Waves Studio, and they all say the same thing, "I have heard about Waves Studio!" or, "I am going to Olympia!" And they continue to come to dance with this amazing community.

The spirit of Waves Studio is strong thanks to all of you. Amara and I have witnessed the community of Waves Studio grow stronger through the many moves and changes. And here we are in the midst of another transition. The time has come for Amara and I to move on, and to pass on the holding and managing of Waves Studio to new hands and hearts. What began as a year of sabbatical has turned into a permanent life change. Amara and I are now landing in Maui, teaching 5Rhythms at The Studio Maui, and, most importantly, we have committed to putting our two teenagers through high school on Maui. It has not been easy to begin letting go of Waves Studio and move on. Truthfully, it has been scary. Yet deep down Amara and I recognized that change was necessary. Moving from Olympia after about twenty years has been a lot like jumping off of a cliff, scary, beautiful and mysterious.

We are grateful to be tenderly passing Waves Studio to the hands and hearts of Liz and Ronny. With Liz's experience, integrity and enthusiasm, and Ronny's deep heartfelt love for the work, we know Waves Studio will continue to thrive and be a home for the 5Rhythms. As many of you know, Liz has been with us since the ballroom days. She has been instrumental in the studio’s growth and has held the space beautifully, especially over this last tumultuous year.

Waves Studio is again growing and changing. Liz, Kari and Shawn will be teaching the same class program Amara and I started and that you are familiar with. Workshops will continue, and Amara and I will come back to Olympia many, many times to teach workshops. For us coming back and teaching workshops at Waves is one of the saving graces that allow us to make this leap.

Amara and I have lived a whole lifetime at Waves, we have grown more than we knew we would or could. And we are very, very grateful for everything that has happened, from the extreme community that has pulled marathon all-night work parties, to the arrivals and departures on all levels of so many people. We are grateful, and we are proud and pleased to pass on the holding of Waves Studio to the capable hands and big hearts of Liz and Ronny, and all the other people that make this community the treasure that it is.