Creating a more inclusive and healthy dance space

When I first opened AIM in 2012, I had lofty goals of creating a dance academy where dancers from all over Richmond would flock for top-notch training in a highly demanding and challenging atmosphere. I wanted our dancers to achieve artistic and technical excellence at all costs. I made a lot of mistakes chasing after that goal. I expected too much of my students, staff, and myself. I was easily frustrated when my dancers didn't reach my goals for them. I neglected my dancers' and my own physical, emotional, and mental health. I yelled. And I cried. A lot.

In 2015 I reached a breaking point of immense burnout. I came close to shutting down the studio for good. But I knew I would have so many regrets if I did that. So instead, I reached out for help. But I couldn't find the support system I so desperately needed, so I created one. I founded a support group for dance studio owners called DSO Connect where we could share ideas and inspiration and hold one another accountable. It is a community of studio owners to troubleshoot our problems and celebrate our successes together. What started as a small group of dance studio owners has now grown into a community of about 500 members, a podcast, live business retreats, in-person and virtual training seminars for dance educators and business owners, and a business coaching program for studio owners.

Cultivating and leading this community for dance studio owners has forced me to take a long hard look at myself and my studio. I train my coaching clients all the time on identifying their "dream client" and their studio's "niche," but I had avoided doing that work myself for my own studio. 

I've spent the last seven years doing a lot of soul-searching to discover what kind of studio I want to lead and what sort of legacy I want to leave. I've listened to my customers, both students and parents, about what they love about dancing at AIM. I've had long conversations with faculty about what makes them excited to come to teach at AIM, and what we can do to improve. Hosting the DSO Connect Podcast has led me to countless conversations with dance educators and professional dancers revealing a common thread of lasting trauma experienced as a result of their dance education and professional careers in dance.

I've constructed a new vision for AIM, not based just on my own goals and dreams, but based on the feedback and ideas from the community we've cultivated together and the synthesis of the conversations about dance education I've had with hundreds of dance professionals. This new vision feels right in my bones. I know that by staying true to this vision, I will leave a legacy that I can be proud of. But more importantly, we will create a dance community where everyone feels seen, respected, and valued, so that our dancers can truly thrive and achieve their own goals.

Here are the two main pillars of this new vision:

1. Inclusivity: AIM is a place where EVERYONE can dance; where people of every race, ethnicity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and ability level can not just take a class, but feel welcomed and included in our community. We're a queer-owned and queer-friendly space. We honor everyone's pronouns. Our dress code has options outside of the traditional leotard and tights so dancers of all genders and sizes can feel comfortable and confident in class. We acknowledge that white supremacy in the dance industry is a toxic and prevalent threat, and we are doing our part to work towards racial equity in the dance industry. We reject appropriative roles and characters in traditional Ballets. We teach historically accurate and respectful lesson plans of dance styles derived from the African diaspora. We sell dance shoes and tights in a wide range of skin tones so every dancer who walks through our doors can find dancewear to match their skin.
2. Mental Health: The old adage "dance teaches life lessons, not just dance lessons" is so true. Dance teaches us discipline, work ethic, how to overcome obstacles, and how to push ourselves past our comfort zones to achieve great things. But, as I've learned from so many interviews with professional dancers and dance educators for the DSO Connect Podcast, a childhood spent in the dance studio can also come with its share of negative lessons. Perfectionism. Martyrdom. An expectation/obligation to keep dancing through injuries or exhaustion. Body dysmorphia and a disordered relationship with food. Always giving 110% sounds like a good practice in theory. But if you show up to ANYTHING and give 110% of yourself EVERY time, what is left for yourself, your family, your health, or your schooling/job? I struggled with all of these issues as a young dancer; some still haunt me to this day. I'm committed to doing everything in my power to end the cycle of toxicity and trauma in dance education right here at AIM, so that hopefully our students don't have to contend with these same issues in their lives. Our faculty will be trained not just in technical pedagogy, but also in mental health issues and childhood development. We will include mental health check-ins in our lesson plans, as well as body positive language. We will bring in guest lecturers to discuss cultivating healthy relationships with our own bodies and the food we put into it. We will push our dancers to reach their potential, but NEVER at the expense of their physical or mental health. Above all, we will make sure our students know that their teachers honor and respect them as full and complete people, and not just as bodies in a dance class.​

I've been thinking about this quote a lot lately: "Be the person you needed as a child." I had an amazing childhood and an amazing dance education. But I was still left with the scars of toxic dance training. I don't claim to know all the answers to rid the dance industry of its toxicity and trauma, but I can educate myself and my staff to make sure my own students are left with fewer (and hopefully zero!) of those scars.

I invite you to join me in this new vision of AIM, where technical and artistic excellence is achieved not at the expense of dancers' whole beings and holistic health. but because of the importance we place on them.