On Friday, December 15th, we celebrated our fourth annual Murray Awards! It is our end of year Student Appreciation Party and it was a great success!
Despite the dreary weather, we welcomed students of both Arthur Murray Cranford and Arthur Murray Hillsborough into our Cranford studio. Both studios are owned by franchisees Danila and Nuria Kartashov. It was an exciting time to have students from both studios in one place for such a grand affair.
The event was catered, with tables set out for students and staff to enjoy dinner together. Students excitedly dressed to the nines to show off their style and enjoy a fancy night out with their Arthur Murray family. Music played throughout the night for plenty of social dancing, with everyone keenly taking advantage. There were line dances, partner swapping games, and even a conga line or two.
A very special feature of our Murray Awards every year is our professional shows – and this year was particularly special. It had been requested that there would be a return to some past professional dance partnerships, so special routines were created with that in mind. There had also been a round of performances with the staff’s current professional partnerships, so students got to see not only a wide variety of dances, but also partnerships they may not have seen before – or for many years.
One of the most looked-forward to parts of the evening was our awards portion. There are several awards our team gives out every year, including our Student Ambassador (Barbara Gabris) and Funniest Dance Moment (Ira & Alex Augenzucker) awards. There is also the Most Improved Dancer award, which is voted upon exclusively by students, and it resulted in our first-ever tie, Jennifer Cerulli and Patsy Trine, both from Cranford. The coveted BASA (Best Accidental Step Award) went to Ira & Cynthia Herman from Hillsborough. We also honored those students of ours who have been with our studio for five years – and soon enough, we will be able to give out awards to ten-year students as well!
At Arthur Murray Cranford and Arthur Murray Hillsborough, we greatly appreciate our students’ commitment and loyalty. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of our students, and while we cannot throw such grand evenings every night, we want to be sure that it is known that we appreciate YOU! Thank you to everyone for not only making our Murray Awards a success, but to sharing their dance journeys with us.
