Northwoods Elementary student Aubrey Miller, 9, sits surrounded by the more than 100 dance outfits she collected to donate to children in need. The costumes are first going to Traveling Tutus, an organization that distributes the costumes to children around the world.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Will Channell)
––––
A local girl is bringing her joy of dance around the world this Christmas season.
Northwood Elementary School student Aubrey Miller, 9, of Marysville, has spent the holiday season collecting dance outfits for kids who want to learn the art, but have no money for costumes. She is the daughter of Christy and Gary Miller.
Aubrey said every year, her grandparents give her money to donate to whatever charity she wants. This year, she decided to go a bit further with it.
Her mother, Christy, did some searching online and found Traveling Tutus, Inc., a non-profit organization aimed at collecting and distributing dance costumes to those who want to learn.
“(They) take in old dance costumes and send them all over the world,” Aubrey said.
The family then began posting on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to donate.
“We got a lot of costumes,” Aubrey said. “We got over a hundred with shoes.”
Christy said Traveling Tutus donates costumes both domestically and overseas. According to a map on the organization’s website, they’ve sent costumes to countries on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
“It’s very neat,” Christy said. “Some of these costumes get worn one time on stage and kept in a closet at home. It’s nice to see them get more life.”
Aubrey said her love for dance served as an inspiration. She said she does several types of dance, including tap, jazz, ballet and hip-hop.
“I’ve been dancing ever since I was two, and I’ve never wanted to leave class or anything,” she said.
Aubrey said she’d like to try something like this again in the future.
“She was talking about it,” Christy said. “She was like, ‘we should do it again next year.’”
Christy said when Aubrey first approached her with the idea, she thought it was a “really sweet” idea.
Christy said seeing her daughter take action was inspiring.
“It’s nice to see how somebody in fourth grade with a little spark of an idea can turn it into something that’s a lot bigger than she is,” Christy said.
Aubrey and Christy said the costumes they’ve received haven’t only come from Patty Berry Dance Studio. Aubrey’s friends, who dance at other studios, have also donated.
“It was nice of the other studios to come together and help her out,” Aubrey said.
Aubrey said she was surprised when she realized how many costumes she’d received.
“I thought we’d only get about 25 costumes,” Aubrey said. “And we got a lot more.”
As of Saturday, Aubrey’s plan was to have everything packed and shipped to Traveling Tutus by the end of the weekend. Christy said some of the money other family members received for donation might go toward shipping.
“It’s going to be a family contribution,” Christy said.