Where would I begin?  I danced at Nan’s in Greensboro for 15 years and have now taught at the Raleigh studio for going on 3!  At every turn, the women who taught me deepened the love and joy I have for dance but also showed me the kind of grown up I want to be.  My dance teachers taught me how to listen, how to be creative, how to learn new things, how to practice hard things, how to meet people where they are, how to be both “real” and encouraging, how to laugh at yourself, how to respect yourself, how to work hard, and how to love what you do.  I love knowing how to dance , but even more than that I love the family of role models and lifelong friends that IS Nan’s!

“Your daughter’s a dancer?  Oh, I bet that made her so flexible!”  That comment, given so often through the years, always gives me pause.  Well, yes, she is  flexible…but that is far from all that 15 years of dancing “made her!”  When that eager little girl finally got old enough to learn “to dance like ‘Singing in the Rain!’”, we were both thrilled!  She learned  to tap like Gene Kelly (well, mostly!), but she learned so much more.

She learned to listen; she learned to take turns; she learned to meet new people; she learned to be kind; she learned to discipline her body; she learned new words; she learned to perform strings of tasks, increasing her powers of concentration; she learned to work with a team; she learned the connections between music and story; she learned to tell a story with her motions; she learned to work hard; she learned to push past her “limits”; she learned to find joy in creating music with motion.  My little dancer is now a lovely lady, and the woman she has grown into has been beautifully influenced by the dancer she became.  Her new joy is teaching students of her own, passing down all the dividends her investment has accrued!

I was a student at Nan’s School of Dance when I was 5 years old (31 years ago).  Miss Vicki was my very first teacher.I continued dancing up until I was a senior in high school. I now teach 4th grade in Raleigh. One of the coolest things that has happened to me occurred several weeks ago when a colleague’s daughter and student at my school told me that she took at Nan’s in Raleigh. I proceeded to tap in the hallway. It is wonderful to see this dance studio reach and impact so many families!!

I love to dance and I couldn’t imagine my life without dance.  Nan’s not only offered me an opportunity to hone a passion, Nan taught me to be a leader.  Nan, Chuck, and Jennifer believed in me and help me become who I am today.  I cannot be more grateful.

I was a student of Nan at the little studio in Yadkinville waaaay back int he 70s!  Have great memories of dancing!