The DDA way

  Miss Geneva with her class at the 2014 DDA Recital   What made you apply for the job at DDA? My husband and I had just moved to Illinois for his job and I was volunteering one day at a cancer center in Geneva teaching dance to kids to bring them some joy through music and movement. The director told me that one of the ladies she worked with had a daughter who had opened up a dance studio in La Fox (the previous location). Well, that was Jenny's mom she was talking about! So, I called right away to see if she was hiring.   Do you remember your first day?   I was actually nervous. I was feeling so out of place moving somewhere that had my first name on buildings (ha!), knowing that my desert blood had no idea how to handle zero degrees, everyone else seemed to have extended family here except me, and driving on roads with one lane was the weirdest thing to me. Those little things made me feel like this was not home. However, I remember walking into DDA being wa...

  When I was around 3 years old, my mom signed me up for dance class to help with my confidence, as I was a very shy child. When I was five or six years old I saw Savion Glover on Sesame Street. I was in awe of his tapping and how much joy he emitted while he danced. I knew right then and there that I wanted to share dance with whomever I could in hopes I would bring the same joy into their lives, as he had to mine. I looked for him every time Sesame Street came on TV, and was so happy whenever he was on the show.     Around that same time, I was also highly inspired by Michael Jackson, as so many in my generation were. His movement was unmatched by anyone that preceded him, and I absolutely made it a goal to be able to learn choreography from music videos and put on shows in my living room to whoever was willing to watch (at times it was only my stuffed animals).    I learned to love moving and it became my outlet. Whether I was having the best day or worst day...