My Journey into Dance & Dance Education
Free. That is how dance made me feel. I began dancing when I was three. Just for fun.
My mom wanted something for me to do. I was the last of six kids and I needed an activity. Little did she know that I would fall in love with it and pursue it for the rest of my life. As a child dancing was that one thing that made me feel free to be whoever I desired to be. I remember as a little girl going up to my room, closing the door and dancing for hours. I would put music on and create dance after dance in my little room. In the summer I would take it outside and the front yard became my stage. I didn’t over-analyze things or get wrapped up in my less than perfect technique, I just did what felt good. See, the thing was I was not gifted with the natural body of a dancer, especially in the turnout area! I was born pigeon-toed… I mean severely pigeon-toed! My legs and feet turned in so much that standing in parallel was a challenge. Life’s funny though… where we might lack in one area you better believe we make up for in another. My area… Passion!
You know those images and pictures of beautiful, perfectly placed dancers with their leg up to their ear and their feet elegantly turned out, elevated in pointe shoes as if suspended by magic? Gorgeous, right? Well, that wasn’t me! I was the kid sweating buckets at the ballet barre, struggling to lift her leg past ninety degrees, feeling nervous and judged. I dreaded ballet class! It made me feel weak, insecure and like a failure. But… after ballet class came jazz… now we’re talking. See in jazz class I could let loose. I could move fast, be powerful, whack my leg and just be free. Jazz is where it was for me. But in order to take jazz I had to take ballet - the foundation of it all. Thanks to amazing teachers that didn’t give up on me and recognized my passion I learned to see ballet as a way to get stronger in jazz.
My training continued through middle and high school and I grew into a powerful athletic dancer who didn’t totally suck at ballet anymore. I studied ballet, jazz, tap, modern and I even twirled a baton! Around 7th grade I began assistant teaching the younger classes at my studio and discovered my passion for dance went one step further… I loved to teach! I continued to grow my teaching skills all through high school and with college in my future, I looked into programs that allowed me to major in dance with an additional focus on dance education. Towson University, just outside of Baltimore MD, became my next training ground.
Being a dance major is not easy. It is a grueling schedule of classes, rehearsals, and performances. That is on top of the required liberal arts classes and the education classes for the dual degree I was after. But I loved it and my passion far outweighed the aches and pains that came with the intense schedule. My four years flew by and before I knew it I was off to New York City to make my dreams come true.
While in New York I performed in musical theatre productions, danced in a modern contemporary company and did the very dancer thing to do… waited tables in between shows. I had no money but dang I was happy! Next came the travel bug! I wanted to see the world. I knew the only way to do this was to land a cruise ship job. But not just any cruise ship. I set my sights high… I wanted a world cruise. See, when I decide to do something I do it big! My passion landed me a cruise job that took me around the globe for 6 months. I worked those rhinestone bikinis and feather headdresses and saw what this big world had to offer. And… bonus… I met my husband! He happened to be the trombone player on the ship and our friendship grew into marriage and two amazing sons!
After cruise ship life I returned to NYC (with my new boyfriend/soon to be husband), did another show or two and began teaching at the famous Steps on Broadway. I also decided to earn my AOS degree in Massage Therapy at The Swedish Institute. So now what… Vegas, baby!
Yep, that’s right, off we moved to Las Vegas! Here my teaching career took off and thrived. The Las Vegas Academy of the Arts magnet high school became my teaching home for 16 fabulous years. The students that have graced my studio are near and dear to me and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to share my love of dance and to help foster their passion. My anatomy knowledge, paired with real-life dance experiences, injury prevention techniques, body alignment methods and of course a healthy dose of passion has fueled my love of dance and teaching.
As dancers we never truly stop dancing. It’s too big a part of us. We just reinvent and evolve.