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 warmly greeted by kind parents and anxious girls ready to learn. I instantly felt at home and realized the small-town atmosphere was going to be awesome.
How has your job changed over the years? I believe in my first year (the studio’s second year), we had 2 levels of ballet. We now have 7 as well as Pointe. So, the job has changed in terms of adapting to growth, focusing on what each level needs to learn, and becoming a mom changed things for how often I could teach. But it was all positive changes through different seasons of change.
What's your favorite part of the job? My absolute favorite part of the job is that it's never boring. Every class brings about discovery, perseverance, and joy. Also, I've been able to work with ages 5 to 18. So, it's been fun to see students graduate and soar through college. Not every student dances after high school, but they are learning life lessons in dance that helps them in their future. It's the best feeling in the world knowing that this job makes a difference.
What's your favorite memory over the last 10 years? My favorite memory was watching our first group of Pointe girls do their first recital dance to Swan Lake music. It was a wonderful accomplishment for them and something they will never forget.
In what ways have you grown as a teacher over the years? Many ways! When I was a young, brand-new teacher it was hard for me to see the bigger picture. Now I can! Developing the love for dance needs to come first. Or else it will be hard to find passion in the movement. Also, some corrections will take a year for a child's body to master because of muscle memory. So, I've learned to be patient but persistent.
What is your biggest accomplishment in your time with DDA? Well, I don't think it's actually ME, but my goal with teaching at a well-rounded studio was to have students see how putting effort in ballet helps them improve overall. Every week I say "take the corrections you heard in ballet today and go apply them in your next class.” Show me a bent leg in a tendu, I guarantee your high kicks in Jazz are going to look bent. Show me rigid arms in ballet, I guarantee your lyrical moves will look robotic. I could go on and on. As the students have grown, it's very exciting for me to see them connecting those dots between the different styles of dance.
What inspired you to become a dance teacher? I had always wanted to be a teacher in some way. When I was a little girl, I used to pretend to be a school teacher. I would line up my stuffed animals, put on red fake glasses, and teach them spelling words. Then that grew into me pretending to teach ballet classes. My senior year in college (I majored in dance) I knew my husband and I were going to get married soon afterwards. I also knew his job would start moving us around about 5 times. I figured I might as well start my teaching career so that I could move with him. It allowed me to stay involved in the dance world and get to know the communities I lived in.
What is something people may not know about you? I grew up in a very rough school district notorious for gangs. Let's just say I was asked to start writing up anonymous witness reports to send classmates to jail in the 3rd grade. Besides my own home the Arts became my safe haven. I was very involved in percussion and choir at school. I was told that on top of getting As, I had to be involved on campus in a variety of ways to get into a good college. So, I WORKED around the clock to make that happen. In high school my choir teacher would let my friends and I eat lunch in her classroom so that we could do homework and eat in peace. I will forever be grateful for that. When she had a meeting to attend, I would eat lunch in the English tutor classroom and help peers who had just escaped from war in Sudan learn their ABCs, which added to my volunteer hours for college applications. My band director would give me free private lessons at 6 am before band practice which helped me accomplish being named top 10 in the state 3 years in a row. The ballet academy I attended was so strict, yet for hours every night I was able to thrive and grow because I was surrounded by structure and discipline. So, what most people may not know about me is that besides my family and faith, my dedication to the Arts truly built my future and my teachers shaped me for who I am today.
What do you like most about DDA? I absolutely love the politeness the students show to me and their peers in the classroom. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I've seen a lot in my career. At DDA I'm grateful to have the opportunity to be able to teach in a respectful setting which then means....class can be a lot of fun!
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