Evan Carmichael takes his Toronto Dance Salsa team to their quarterly treat day, where they celebrate Monica as Helper of the Semester, share a massive dessert spread, and sing happy birthday to Evan. He gives a speech about belonging and community, quoting "Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching."
Once a quarter, I take the people on who are part of my Toronto Dance Salsa team And I take them out for a treat. And last quarter we went— was it bowling?
No.
No. Yeah, bowling. We did bowling and the meal at the restaurant. That was good times. And this year we were supposed to go tubing, but it's— what?
But then it's 11 degrees outside.
Nina won't let me finish the story. Okay, go. You tell the story.
It's 11 degrees outside. It's too warm to go tubing, so we decided to go to this yummy restaurant.
Nina's very excited.
And let's go. I'm really excited.
11 degrees for our American friends watching. I don't know what that is, but we'll flash it right here. 11 degrees in the middle of February. 11 degrees Celsius. It's crazy. I don't get to go. I'm staying playing with Jeffrey and Stephanie. You're going to have more fun there anyway.
Let's do it!
Alright, we're here. I made a mistake. Last time I paid for everybody to go on the boat cruise, which was a lot of fun. The time before that was the lunch and the bowling. And so we're here. We switched our plans from snow tubing because it's a glorious day. I'm in shorts and sandals, but that's been my theme this winter anyway. Shorts and sandals. You gotta get used to the cold. Embrace the cold. It makes you stronger. So this place we came to, what, a couple weeks ago?
Yeah.
They have these— the food was decent. The food was really good. But, um, the real reason to come is these amazing desserts that they have. Stacked toast with ice cream and a whole bunch of yummy. And there were 4 of us and we couldn't finish it last time. And so I'm expecting some amazing visuals and for people to, uh, really enjoy the time together, come together as family. And Nina set it all up, so we appreciate and love her.
Let's do it!
We're the first ones here. We got this big table. Nina's excited as we wait for people to come and fill it up. Let me show you the menu. Let me show you. So these are— this is the regular food. It's all good. Ramen. This is what we came for. Look at that. Look at that toast. Yeah, baby. These things are huge. Nina's gonna leave super full. 100% happening. She's gonna leave going, "Baggy clothes." She's gonna leave, "Oh, I'm so full, I can't eat anything." Alex is here.
Nan is here.
Long time no see, buddy.
It's all ready. She's already organized everything.
So my little pads now. I'm working so much and thinking so much. I'm wearing out my sweater, so now I got a little pad right here. So, you know.
How about your shoulders? I'm planning, I'm planning. You have pads on your shoulders too.
Shoulders?
Yeah.
When I have a hard day and I need to lean on someone, I got the shoulder pads too, you know? So I don't have to lean like this sideways. Listen, stop judging. Here we go, so we're gonna introduce all the helpers right now that have made it here tonight— today.
Wait, I thought you were doing this on Snapchat.
Yes, I am. Evan is here recording me, I'm recording Evan. I'm here with all the helpers. They're gonna introduce their name and their favorite sauce and root. Yeah!
Hello, my name is Kakarina and I've been helping since September 2011. And my favorite root is the nature's root.
Nice!
Hi, my name is Stefan. I have to say my favorite sauce and root is Stefan because I kind of made it up.
So if you want to see what it is, I'll tell you Dance to the dance floor! Hi, my name is Sudeep. My favorite move is the coco cola.
My name is Janice. My favorite dance move is the coco cola. Hello, my name is Lilia. I like wonderful oysters.
Ooh, that's fancy! Hi, namaste.
My favorite move will be same as Sudeep's coco cola.
Nice, nice, I love it!
Hi, my name is Anand.
I like the oyster.
It's okay, cool. Hi, my name is Monica.
I've been helping out since the spring of 2016. And I love to spin, so the more spins, the better.
Nice.
So I'm Nina, I've been hula hooping for like 6, over 6 years. I like to do body wave.
Oh, there it is.
Hi, my name is Stephanie, I've been hooping for the last year, and my favorite move is the women's backwards dip with the head roll.
Ooh, nice.
No redos, no, it's all been already, it's already posted online.
Really?
No. Snapchat. My name is Alex, I've been an instructor for the last year, and my favorite move is the body wave. I do it all the time. I love it. Even though Nina loves it too.
Nina's feeling herself.
Just the dancing and all that.
It's okay, we still love you, Nina. We still love you, Nina. What is that? You don't want to try it. It's not really good. They look really— wow, guys, they're all gone. Alex is doing his thing. Nice, nice. That's some preparation, dude.
I'mma—
we're on camera.
Alright, gang. So a helper of a semester, the way we choose it is the one that gets the most feedback, the most love. So we look at all the feedback, it was over like 200 feedback from different students on everybody. I literally just counted the names, I'm like, who stood out the most? So Fall 2016 Helper of the Semester is Monica!
Woo!
You get your golden tag, that's one.
Aww.
You get your one free class of TDS, 9-week class, to each use it for anything you want. So here's some of the stuff that people wrote. Monica's a great assistant, A great helper. Monica adds a lot of fun and gave good advice to tweak my dancing form. Very motivated and helpful. Great at leading the class.
Wow.
Hey!
How was the semester? I'm really happy.
Thank you guys for the opportunity. Meeting all you people is so fantastic. I love you guys so much. I want to keep doing it and doing it. I hope to grow even more and I hope to help even more. And if anybody help me out to get better, and I'll help you all out, whatever you need. I'm so proud to be part of the family. This is amazing. Great.
Thank you so much.
I don't know what to say. Dessert's coming. Dessert's coming soon. I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm excited. Oh, that's a little close. Now I'm scared. The plates are here.
Oh, okay. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Evan! Happy birthday to you!
Thank you!
Hey!
Blow it out!
Are you ready?
Let's go!
Round 2!
Alex is dancing.
He's got strawberries inside him.
Strawberries! Okay, so there's a quote I read recently that I love, and it just talks about the spirit of really focusing on yourself and being happy. When I think of you, when I think of my family, and over the last 8 years since I became a student, how grateful I am. And I would never have imagined myself being here sitting with all of you. And my one word is belong. I was always looking I was looking for a place where people wouldn't judge me, would make me feel like I'm part of their family. So the quote says, or the quote goes, "Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching." And so, gang, whenever I'm at the studio, I'm dancing, I feel like nobody's watching, nobody's judging, and I hope you feel like that too. All the love I receive from you, it's like all the things in high school and all the awkwardness I've had in my life, it doesn't happen. And whenever I talk to you, I always feel that it's a genuine relationship. And I'm working at TDS because I don't care about the money, I don't care about the power, I don't care about the attention. I care because we're doing something bigger. We're doing something bigger for ourselves and for others. And every time I see any of you talk to a student or you're talking to each other, and the light that lights up, and the light that lights up in me, it makes it a very special place. And so thank you so much for being part of my family, and thank you for letting me be part of your family and your lives. And I just— it's incredible, and I'm super proud of all of you and just what we have here. Thank you, guys. Okay, real men cry, Nina.
All right, we're done. I'm feeling full. How's Nina feeling?
I'm ready for a nap.
You should stand up here so you're taller. There she is. Look at how tall Nina is now.
I'm tall.
That was insanely filling.
Good times, though.
Amazing people. Love the TDS family. Thank you to Nina for setting it up too, organizing the tubing and then organizing this and all the chaos that went with it. Did a good job. Hope you guys have an amazing weekend.
Continue to believe whatever your one word is. We will see you soon.
