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Katherine Horrigan, founder and CEO of Dance Academy of Virginia, started her studio-owner journey unexpectedly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the studio she’d been directing for 10 years, Adagio Ballet School of Dance, decided to permanently close. She had one month before the fall dance season to decide if she was going […]
During Rachel Cantor’s performing career in musical theater, she would often teach dance at a children’s play space in between shows. She realized that teaching was not only something she enjoyed and was good at, it also provided more stability. “I thought, Instead of doing this for someone else, I could do it for myself,” […]
Chan Hon Goh, CM, DLitt, may be the only daughter of Choo Chiat and Lin Ye Goh, ballet icons and founders of the prestigious Goh Ballet Academy and Youth Company Canada in Vancouver, but following in her parents’ footsteps and taking over the academy after they retired was never a given. In 2009, after retiring […]
Tara Brown, founder and director of Boston Dance Studios, never dreamed of opening a studio—in fact, she was originally against the career path. “I didn’t believe [owning a studio] could be lucrative and I knew it would be a lot of work,” she says. After a commercial dance career in New York City, Brown moved […]
In 2010, John Gonzales, founder and director of Gonzales Dance Academy, opened up his first studio, but due to financial hardships, the ballet folklórico studio shut down two years later. Gonzales, who was simultaneously teaching with the Porterville Unified School District in the Central Valley of California, tucked away his dream of being a studio […]
When Camila Gil immigrated to Miami from Colombia with her family at age 13, she didn’t know if her dance training would continue. With little money, her parents couldn’t afford the tuition of most classical ballet schools, so when Armour Dance Theatre offered her a scholarship, they gave Gil a chance to not only continue […]
As a young dancer, New York native Chanel Holland trained with multiple prestigious companies, including The Ailey School, Koresh Dance Company, and University of the Arts, but she struggled when attending classical ballet auditions in her early years as a professional. “I wouldn’t get past barre because they couldn’t see past my color, or my […]
At Bristol Ballet—situated in the Appalachian Mountains surrounding Bristol, Virginia—incorporating the region’s history is a top priority. Founded by Constance Hardinge in 1948, Bristol Ballet is the oldest studio in the rural Tri-Cities area that provides quality ballet training to students in the Appalachian region. During her time as artistic director, Hardinge started the first […]
Through education, creation, and advancement, Dance Institute of Washington—a 501(C)(3) nonprofit dance organization located in DC—is promoting equity and representation by providing more opportunities for dancers of diverse backgrounds. “We create space where the attributes and character traits that might make them feel isolated or not welcome are actually privileges at DIW,” says executive director […]
Kids Dance Outreach, a not-for-profit arts and dance education organization, is primarily focused on serving the children of Indianapolis. Founded by artistic director Michael J. Johnson in 2012, KDO has brought a variety of dance classes to over 17,000 elementary students in local public and charter schools. With more than 80 percent of participants on […]