Mrs Dani

Drawing by Raven Avery

At eight years old I met the woman that would change my life. This woman is my hero. She is the reason I want to dance for the rest of my life. Ms. Dani is my hero because of how she taught me how I can express my emotions through movement and to never give up on something that I love.

I moved from Birmingham, Alabama to Hellertown, Pennsylvania in 2003. I had taken dance classes in Alabama but not very seriously. My mother took a chance and enrolled me at a dance studio that was just starting out. This studio, Dynamix, has now been in business for over ten years.

A couple of years ago I asked Ms. Dani, "What did you think of me when you first started teaching me?" She said I used to be a troublemaker. That I would always talk in class and never listen to her. When I would get frustrated I would quit and just sit on the floor. Slowly but surely, I realized dance was fun, jumping and turning to her choreography. With Ms. Dani's patience I matured and by listening I learned more. She is the best teacher I know; she pushed me and made me want to push myself.

During our last year together I had a solo point class with her and I loved it. I had time to ask her about all the pro and cons of being a dance teacher. She told that being a dance teacher was very hard but also very rewarding. Dance teachers have hours and hours of work outside of the studio. They have to choreograph everything from the warm up stretches to the recital dance. These teachers get to work with the most adorable kids. Sometimes the kids are like me when I first started dancing, a brat. The teachers see their students grow up, from an energetic child to a mature woman, just like me. Ms. Dani watched me grow up and saw the potential in me. She saw that even though I did not have the best form or turn out but I loved to dance. She knew that loving what I did is better than excelling in it. The day Ms. Dani told me she was not going to be teaching the next year I was devastated. I did not know what I would do without her. Without her constant support and determination to make me a better dancer. Whenever I was stressed out I would just wait for her class where I could dance without any pressure or judgment. When I had no one to talk to, she was always there. Even if we did not actually talk we could talk through our movement.

I know I am not perfect but I still strive to be. I strive to be like Ms Dani, she is my hero. On our last day she gave me a bookmark that said "True love doesn't have a happy ending, because true love never ends. Letting go is one way of saying I love you." That is exactly what I did, I let her go. I miss Ms. Dani a lot. I still carry her with me though. Through all of hard times, through the times when I doubt myself, when I do not know if I am good enough to be the best. I now know I am enough, because of her. She is never far away; she is with me every time I lace up my Pointe shoes.