My first ballet teacher, Karen Mills Jennings, found me when I was 4 through a public school program she started called Super Saturdays. If you had a spark for one of the arts disciplines, you could get a scholarship to the Flint School of Performing Arts. I got to dance my heart out! When I […]
I taught myself how to do a backflip after seeing it in a Bollywood movie, when I was 19. For my 21st birthday, I asked my family only for money and gave myself the gift of a dance lesson. I found a school called The Danceworx Academy in Mumbai. The director said that I could […]
I have had the privilege of writing this What My Teacher Taught Me column for over three years. In that time, I’ve been moved by the influence dance teachers have on the lives of their students. From sponsoring dancers in need, to providing technical foundations that sustain major careers, to instilling life lessons that enhance […]
The first time Peggy Baker saw me dance was my senior year of high school in Toronto, Canada in 1979. I was starring in a play with a self-choreographed dance solo, and someone in the community recommended Peggy check it out. At the time, she was dancing in a company called Dancemakers. She was 10 […]
I met my mentor, Ariel Serrano, the summer before my junior of high school in New York City. One of my teachers at Ballet Hispánico (Rebecca Maso) recommended I leave LaGuardia High School [of Music & Art and Performing Arts] to train under his tutelage at Sarasota Cuban Ballet School in Florida. She felt strongly […]
I’ve had the privilege of working with a lot of really wonderful people, but one of the most meaningful teachers in my life is tap dancer and choreographer Anthony Morigerato. I took his class for the first time at Nuvo Dance Convention in 2011 and, soon after that, he started coming to choreograph at my […]
I was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and discovered tap dancing when I was just 6 years old. I was in the audience of my sister’s dance recital when a little boy took the stage and started tapping. I was mesmerized and immediately asked my parents if they could put me in class as […]
My mom, Stacy Bills, is easily the most influential dance teacher I’ve ever had. She knows what I really need as both an individual and a dancer. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. My mom has a rich dance background. She was a gymnast as a child, then began dancing at Center […]
I came to New York after I finished high school in Tokyo, in 1979. I didn’t know much about New York or the dance scene there. I got my student visa through the Joffrey Ballet School, and I started to take modern class at The Ailey School. After auditioning, I got a scholarship to Ailey […]
Maleek Washington was my first-ever contemporary dance teacher. Before meeting him, I had spent my early childhood doing kung fu and my early teenage years doing street styles and hip hop. It wasn’t until I was 16 that I went to CityDance Conservatory in North Bethesda, Maryland, and met Maleek. He introduced me to Afro-jazz, […]