The Space TV

Season 9 at The Space feels like it passed in a breath… yet somehow held a lifetime of moments inside it.

What started as another season became something deeper a year filled with growth, connection, art, faith, sacrifice, laughter, exhaustion, breakthroughs, healing, and unforgettable memories. Somewhere in-between the long rehearsals, the quiet conversations, the late nights, the victories, and the struggles… a community was built.

The energy this season carried was hard to explain. It flowed through the hallways, the studios, the music, the tears, the hugs, the prayers, the creative process, and every person who walked through the doors. You could feel that something bigger than dance was happening here.

This year taught life lessons far beyond choreography. Lessons about discipline, patience, belief, humility, resilience, friendship, leadership, and becoming. We watched people grow into stronger artists, but more importantly, stronger human beings.

And somehow… together, we made a movie.
Not just a film, but a reflection of a journey.
A time capsule of what it felt like to live inside this season.

Most importantly, we felt God moving throughout this space in ways that can’t always be explained. In the timing, in the relationships, in the protection, in the opportunities, in the healing, and in the unseen moments no camera could fully capture.

Season 9 reminded us that The Space has never only been about dance.
It’s about people.
People chasing purpose.
People learning to believe in themselves.
People carrying each other through difficult moments.
People creating something meaningful together.

And while the season flew by faster than we ever imagined, the impact of it will stay with us forever.

Forever grateful for every soul who helped shape this chapter.
Season 9… you were special.

Kids coming up today, if they don't get things in five or six years, they would move home. They quit. I've watched some of even my own friends. We get started in the business and if there was no work or push, or even if you're just training, "I'm only taking class".

I'm like, that's part of the process! Take class, learn, train, find yourself in those zones. When I think of five or six years, which would put you at maybe 27 or 28, at that time so many kids are like "oh my gosh, if I haven't done this by the time I'm 28, then I've failed my life."

Really dance does take time. It's something I speak to parents about. It's something I speak to students about. Most people feel like by the time they're 20 if they haven't booked a job yet they're really no good for anything and that's actually completely the opposite of what it is.

The more seasoned you are and the more people you know, and the word image you brought up. If you have that great image, which hopefully be the same way that these people are perceived and the people perceive them so that they do have a good persona and they are those good people.

So then again, it goes all along with "I do want that person in my room". So you need those things to really marinate. I mean, it just doesn't happen overnight. It really doesn't.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE
Inside the Space: How Kennis Marquis Built Longevity
https://thespace.tv/programs/podcast-inside-the-space-kennis-marquis-ep18

The music, I'm telling you, touches people as well. So you have to have the right playlist and you have to read the room when it comes to grooves. Because I bring them up, then I bring them down, then I bring them all around and bring them back up again.

So it's about bringing something out of the individual, each dancer, because you just never know like some people are holding back. And I just want to make sure that they have the freedom - it's a safe space, it's a learning space.

But also you have to give as well - as much energy as I'm giving you, I expect it back.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE
Inside the Space: How Kennis Marquis Built Longevity

https://thespace.tv/programs/podcast-inside-the-space-kennis-marquis-ep18