There are certain dance teachers out there who have a gift for making students feel loved, cared about, capable, encouraged and inspired—all at the same time. They’re beautiful sparks of light in the midst of this competitive and at times exhausting industry.

Three of those special souls happen to have a gigantic reach through conventions and television, and have somehow made each and every one of us feel like they’re our second moms. Don’t believe me? Go take (or observe) class from anyone of them and then try to tell me they don’t love you as their own!

Check ’em out below, and then share a time one of them said something that made you feel important and validated!

xoxo

1. Stacey Tookey

When Tookey walks into the room, all the students breathe a sigh of relief. From the warm-up to the cool down, the entire class is about being your best self, expressing genuine emotions in a healthy way and reaching your potential. Three cheers for this beauty! Please adopt us all!

2. Mandy Moore

Have you seen her with those kiddos on “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors” this season? She brings out the best in them without tearing them down. She’s had an unbelievably successful career, yet never behaves like a diva with her students. She teaches because she genuinely cares, and for that we are all thankful. Can we call her Mama Mandy, already?

3. Denise Wall

Wall isn’t just a mother to one of the most popular choreographers of our generation (eh hem, Travis Wall), but she’s a mother to us all. She takes the time to walk her students through proper alignment and technique practices, because she cares about the health of her dancers just as much as she cares about their talent. If that’s not motherly instincts, then I don’t know what is.