Dance with Hannah D.

Dance has been a part of my life for 20 years! I began lessons when I was in kindergarten and it was love at first sight. I danced and competed through high school but a series of injuries kept me from pursuing a professional career in college. Instead, I pursued a degree in history while teaching for a local competition studio. My dancers frequently placed top 10 in the national circuit and my choreography and costume designs received several awards. During college, I discovered theatre and began to merge my love of self-expression and story telling with the dance technique I had practiced for so long. This helped me discover a unique and personalized style of choreography that gave me opportunity to help my students develop not only a love of dance, but also confidence, healthy self-expression, and communication skills. After college, I worked towards my MA in War, Media, and Society while continuing to do freelance choreography. After moving to DC in 2016 to work as a legislative assistant, I missed dance too much and knew I needed to find a way to fit it into my life! I began teaching private ballet and creative movement classes for my first client and absolutely loved being able to share my knowledge and love for this art form on a one-on-one basis with my students. I have 5 years of experience teaching beginner ballet and creative movement, and 4 years teaching the following: ballet for ages 5-18, pointe for ages 13-18, jazz & musical theatre for ages 5-18, and tap for ages 5-12. I have a wide variety of choreography experience for solo, duet, trio, small, and large groups of all ages in ballet, pointe, contemporary, and character jazz. I believe teaching dance is so much more than pointing toes and making beautiful lines (although those things are certainly important). I want to help my students develop important life skills, communicate feelings through movement, and learn to use the art of dance as a healthy outlet for stress and communication.