I have been on dance.net for awhile now, but, not having very much time to look around each time I log on, I only just recently found the teachers and studio owners forums! So sorry I've taken so long to introduce myself...My name is Katharine, Miss Kathie to my students I am almost 22 years old, I will be in July, and my studio story is kind of complicated, but I'll try to explain lol. I have been teaching since I was 13 years old. I started by assistant teaching at a studio called Ariel's Dance. My parents could never really afford to have me in dance even though I wanted to since I was about 5...the owner of Ariel's Dance was also the director of a Christian dance company that held rehearsals/lessons for free so I started in that at age 11 1/2 and then she recognized my talent and let me assist so I could take technique classes at the studio for free. I took classes in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical. I fell in love with teaching (and dancing I already was obviously) and eventually started helping with choreography for recitals etc. When I was 15 my sister and I taught about 12 kids in my parents garage "just for fun" for the summer. We loved, the kids loved it, so we kept teaching in the garage for the next 3 years we only had about 18 students, but we put on a recital every year and I knew that one day I wanted my own studio. Once I graduated highschool, the previous year I realized that I had outgrown Ariel's Dance, I went on to take classes at Palomar College, a community college with an amazing dance program. I studied there for 3 years taking classes in ballet, jazz, theatre, modern, tap, world dance, choreography, dance history etc. I was then hired at a private school where I began to teach classes for their P.E. program in ballet, tap and jazz for kindergarten through 12th grade. I was also able to start renting out the studio at the school for my own classes (yes they moved out of the garage) and soon will be moving those "after school classes" into my own full-fledged studio with a space of its own, I am looking at a few space now (and crossing my fingers). The students in my little "garage studio" went from 18 dancers to now 54 dancers through the after school program I run through the school. I am hoping enrollment will go up a lot during the next year. Right now I call my dance program Katharine's Dance, but when I have my own studio it will be called Katharine's Dance Academy. I currently teach classes in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical to students from 2 years old up to 18 years old.
As far as inspiration goes...its my students that inspire to keep dancing and teaching