DanceFIT Studio
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      • virtual birthday parties
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      • host your event here
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    • gift cards
    • sponsor a virtual dancer

Beyond The Barre
tales from a dance studio owner 

ballet teacher fun!

9/10/2015

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The DanceFIT ballet teachers are known for being the sweetest, most caring,  loving teachers around! Not only do they put 100% into planning their classes, but they really care about each dancers progress & experience.  All of our ballet teachers come seasoned with years of dance experience, performing experience and most importantly many years working with kids.  We put together this fun post for you to meet 4 new teachers on our staff and get to know all of our teachers better!


Meet Miss Ashley - Natick Studio
Lead instructor: Saturdays 9 AM Pre-Ballet, 10 AM Pre-Ballet II, 11 AM Pre-Ballet

What do you love most about teaching little kids?
1) Their smiles and giggles! I love seeing how excited our dancers are to come to class and how happy they are when they're dancing.

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
My favorite memory from childhood ballet classes has to be dancing across the floor, whether it was learning combinations or leaping, I love those memories.

Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
3) My favorite song is echappe azalea!

FUN FACT: Cows are my favorite animal, MOO!



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Meet Miss Vanessa- Natick Studio
Assistant instructor Saturdays in Natick: 9 AM Pre-Ballet, 10 AM Pre-Ballet II, 11 AM Pre-Ballet

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
I love teaching children's classes because childhood imagination makes every class a unique adventure.

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
My favorite memory from my childhood ballet classes was performing and becoming a part of the story. It taught me that every situation requires a little creativity regardless of how old you are!

3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
My favorite part of the DanceFIT curriculum is watching our dancers use the skills they've learned at the end of every class. It's the perfect opportunity to see their personalities come to life!

AND lastly, a FUN FACT about yourself!!!
I have been a dancer for over 15 years, from a pre-ballet student to an intercollegiate dance performer and choreographer. When I'm not dancing I love finding adventures in the city & writing about them on my lifestyle blog!


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Meet Miss Amanda- Natick Studio
Lead instructor Fridays 3 PM Pre-Ballet, 4 PM Pre-Ballet II, Assistant instructor Thursdays 10:15 AM, Lead instructor of American Girl Night

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
I love teaching kids because they are so eager and excited to learn. It makes me happy that they are so good at seeing the magic in ballet. 

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
My favorite memories from my childhood ballet classes involve learning our recital dances and how special it made me feel to be praised by my teachers. 


3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be the teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc. 
I'm looking forward to using music from classical ballets like The Nutcracker in my classes, as well as some new favorites like songs from the Disney movie Brave. Music is so important in ballet class and I can't wait to see the dancers make the songs come to life! 

AND lastly, a FUN FACT about yourself!!! 
When I was younger, I danced the part of a mouse in The Nutcracker, the costume was definitely the least beautiful of all the ballet costumes I ever got to wear! 


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Meet Miss Kaitlyn - Brookline Studio
Lead Instructor Fridays 5 PM Teen Dance, Saturdays 11 AM Ballet I, Assistant Instructor Saturdays 10 AM Pre-Ballet II

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
I love when they're really lost in the freeze dance and just letting themselves move to the music without any inhibition!

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes? In middle school I danced with a group called CityStep, which was led by Harvard students. Many years later, I would realize one of my teachers was Natalie Portman!

3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
This session I'm so excited to bring in some friends to teach cultural dances to my older students!

Fun fact: I've got a little bit of a circus streak. I practice aerial silks, trapeze, hula hooping, and poll



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Meet Miss Emily - Brookline Studio
Lead instructor Saturdays 10 AM Tippy Toes, Saturdays 11 AM Ballet I, Assistant Instructor Saturdays 9 AM Pre-Ballet

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
I love the imagination children bring to ballet class. Often times, they have more descriptive names for movements than I can think up myself, and it's always interesting to hear what comes to their minds when they learn a new step!

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
Most of my childhood memories take place in ballet class, so it's too hard to chose!! I just loved getting to spend every day doing something I loved with all of my best friends (often wearing matching leotards and hair accessories).  

3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
I'm excited to find new ways to use the obstacle course with my tippy toes dancers, and most excited for leaps with my older dancers so they can feel like they're flying. 

Fun fact: I grew up horseback riding as well, and my home (where I grew up) in California is also a horse ranch!  



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Meet Miss Nicole - Brookline Studio
Assistant instructor Fridays 3 PM Pre-Ballet, 4 PM Pre-Ballet II, 5 PM Ballet I

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
 The best thing about teaching little kids is that they are game for anything. They see your enthusiasm and instantly want to try whatever it is you are doing. It's truly is the best!

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
My favorite childhood dance memory would have to be the first time I performed on the big stage as I called it. I did a ballet dance to "Happy Birthday" and remember loving the spotlight. Getting to wear a pretty tutu and my hair in a big bun was the best!

3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
I honestly love every part of our ballet classes! Every part is always exciting and fun! I really do love playing dance games because while it reinforces using technique, you can see the fun the kids are having!

Fun Fact
I am a newlywed! I was recently married in January and have been living happily ever after since :)


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Meet Miss Denise - Natick Studio
Kids Yoga Teacher, Sundays 9:30 AM

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
I love the energy children bring. It can be pretty easy to get caught up in all of the stressful things in the world, and spending some time with kids reminds you to relax a little, have some fun. I love how honest they are, and their excitement in exploring the world around them!


2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
My favorite memory from childhood ballet classes... there are so many! I always loved recital time, though. It felt so good to show my family what I had been doing all year in dance class. When I was really young, we had our recital at Lynn City Hall. The auditorium was HUGE and so intimidating, but it was a lot of fun to get to go out there and be on stage.

3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
I am SO excited for kids yoga this year. I did my training through ChildLight Yoga, and learned so many great activities! One part that's really fun is a story about a cat, a mouse and a dog. As different animals are introduced, the children move into the poses. The story can be changed, new animals can be added, it's a great way for the kids to get warmed up and familiar with some of the basic yoga poses. Once children become familiar with the story, they can tell it, or use their imagination and add on to it. I also have a lot of fun yoga related crafts I'm excited to incorporate into my classes. During our free class, we made no sew eye pillows with lavender rice inside to help with Savasana and relaxation.

My fun fact was always that I was named after Denise Huxtable from the Cosby Show. It's slightly less fun now that we know all this awful stuff about Bill Cosby, though. Here's the story though.
My sisters were 7 and 10 when I was born, and my parents thought it would be a great idea to let them pick my name. My mom never understood where they came up with Denise, but when I was in high school my sister confessed that she chose Denise because Denise Huxtable was her favorite character on The Cosby Show. Other less fun fact - I started teaching kids yoga with my students when I was a special education teacher and that is what got me interested in getting trained. 


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Meet Miss Gina - Natick & Brookline Studios
Lead instructor Mondays in Natick Tippy Toes 10:15 AM, Mondays Pre-Ballet 11:15 AM, Tuesdays in Natick 3 PM Pre-Ballet, 4 PM Pre-Ballet II, 5 PM Ballet I & II Combo, Thursdays Pre-Ballet 10:15 AM, Lead instructor Mondays in Brookline 3 PM Pre-Ballet, 4 PM Pre-Ballet II, Lead instructor Fridays in Brookline 3  PM Pre-Ballet, 4 PM Pre-Ballet II, 5 PM Ballet I, Saturdays in Brookline 9 AM Pre-Ballet, 10 AM Pre-Ballet II

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
Kids are hilarious and so honest.  I come home with funny quotes from them every day. I love how the ballerinas look up to their teachers. I am known for wearing off the shoulder sweatshirts, headbands and legwarmers. I see "mini ballet teachers" by week #3. There was once a little girl who kept trying to take off her leo in class.  I inquired why and she was trying to let it fall off her shoulder like my sweatshirt, ha!

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
Parent observation day! I always was so proud to show them what I had been working on.

3) Favorite part of the curriculum you will be teaching this year. Favorite song/ dance, etc.
Coupe the cricket & por de bras the spider and for my older dancers I look forward to working in 5th position more.

Fun fact: Since 2009 I have taught 4184 DanceFIT classes! I love teaching!


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Meet Miss Samantha - Brookline Studio
Assistant Instructor Saturdays 9 AM Pre-Ballet, 10 AM Tippy Toes, 11 AM Ballet I

1) What do you love most about teaching little kids?
The thing I love most about teaching little kids is the excitement in their expressions during class. Whether it be dancing with one of their best "dance" friends, learning a new movement and then understanding it, or free-style performing on stage, I love how excited and proud children are of themselves and one another. It's truly inspiring.

2) What is your favorite memory from your childhood ballet classes?
My favorite memory from my childhood ballet classes would have to be recital day. I loved getting all dressed up and performing on stage with my family there to see and give me big hugs after :)

Fun fact: I grew up dancing AND playing hockey at the same time! I would run from dance rehearsal to hockey practice changing in the car on the way--thank goodness for my parents but still to this day people are always so surprised by the unique combination!

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    Mom of 3, wife, business owner, ballet teacher and fitness instructor. Trying hard  to raise healthy, happy and grateful children while running the studio of my dreams. Trying to stay FIT, flexible, stylish and take care of myself in the process!

    Thankful for my clients, ballerinas and my amazing team who live out my mission each day to spread my love of dance and fitness.

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857-225-1888 | info@dancefitstudio.com
25 Monmouth Street, Brookline Ma 02446 | 124 East Central Street, Natick Ma 01760| 
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  • ABOUT
    • founder
    • our amazing team
    • awards + press
    • in our community >
      • free baby playgroup
    • locations >
      • Natick Studio
      • Brookline Studio
  • CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING
    • policies & procedures
    • winter 1 natick studio schedule
    • winter 1 virtual schedule
    • virtual kids dance details >
      • virtual birthday parties
      • Testimonials
      • Boston Globe article
    • plié pod & private training
    • dress code
    • brookline studio
    • special events
    • scholarships
  • adult [ virtual ] fitness
    • fitness class schedule
    • virtual class login instructions & faq >
      • fitness testimonials
    • outdoor fitness classes
    • prenatal yoga
    • pricing
    • private training
    • planFIT
    • our favorite props
    • rewards
  • BIRTHDAY PARTIES
    • birthday parties >
      • virtual birthday parties
      • simply perfect ballerina
      • princess tea + dance
      • yoga pajama party
      • hula luau party
      • birthday inspiration
      • host your event here
  • SHOP DANCEFIT
  • GIFT DANCEFIT
    • gift cards
    • sponsor a virtual dancer