Ask Michele Larkin-Wagner and Molly Larkin-Symanietz what sets them and Maplewood, Minnesota–based Larkin Dance Studio apart, and they immediately give the credit to their mom. Shirley Larkin founded the school in 1950 and continued to oversee the growing business until she passed away in 2011. “She put Minnesota on the map for dance training and […]
In Macarena Gandarillas’ jazz class at California State University, Fullerton, a sign in the studio reads, “Never underestimate the power of determination.” This simple mantra embodies what has made this self-described “danceaholic” such an impactful teacher. When Gandarillas came to Los Angeles at age 6 with her family from Santiago, Chile, the language barrier was […]
It was the morning of November 8, 2018, and Jarrah Myles’ first-period choreography students were in last-minute rehearsals for their fall dance concert that evening. “All of a sudden my students’ phones started ringing like crazy,” says Myles, a teacher at Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, a Chico, California, high school whose dance and […]
While taking class in 2006, Marisa Hamamoto felt a tingling sensation in her elbows, then suddenly collapsed to the floor. She was hospitalized and diagnosed with spinal cord infarction, a rare spinal stroke that left her paralyzed from the neck down. Despite being told by her doctor that she may never walk again, let alone […]
“I still learn something every time I go to the Summit,” says Dance Teacher Summit ambassador Bonnie Schuetz, who has operated Boni’s Dance & Performing Arts Studio in the Houston, Texas, area for more than 30 years. “I think my favorite thing is just to sit around that roundtable and talk.” At last year’s, she […]