Several years ago, Dane and Sue were privileged to train and teach with Nadine Haag.  Nadine had all the makings of a great teacher - she was calm and gentle and patient, she was an instinctive coach and mentor, she genuinely cared about her students' learning and happiness, she always took the time to understand people within their own contexts, and she loved to dance.

The only thing that had the potential to stand in Nadine's way was that she struggled to progress her own dancing...  but Nadine was not a quitter.  She worked and worked and worked at it.  She practiced relentlessly, she took criticism gratefully, she tried again and again with the cheerful patience and determination that were her nature.  And by the end of one year she had exceeded everyone's expectations and become a truly beautiful dancer.

A few years later, Nadine died aged 33.  The world lost a beautiful person and a wonderful teacher.  We want to make sure Nadine is remembered - remembered for her noblest qualities, and remembered as a dancer.  So each Gala Ball we will present the Nadine Haag Memorial Award for Hard-Earned Improvement.

This very special award will go to a student who has improved beyond our expectations by hard work and determination.  It's not a prize for dancing difficult steps, nor for a showy performance, it's not even a prize for being an excellent dancer.  It's to congratulate someone on working harder than most to become better than we thought they could, just as Nadine did.

Special thanks to Nadine's family for so enthusiastically agreeing to let us establish this award, and especially for coming to our first Gala Ball to present it for us.

Congratulations to our winners so far: