There are many reasons dance is beneficial for a child. Yes, it is a physical activity that promotes a healthy lifestyle, but we believe, and we hope you do too, that it is so much more than that.

Dance teaches a child the importance of time management; you need to learn how to get your homework done, attend your classes, practice your routines and somehow manage to have a social life in there somewhere. It teaches you to be a team player, how to fully commit to something – give it your all. It teaches you confidence and leadership, to step out of your comfort zone and on to that stage, under the bright lights, and go for it.

Through dance we discover that it’s not always going to go according to plan, we aren’t always going to succeed, and other’s opinions are going to be different than our own from time to time.  As much as that  that may hurt – we can pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and try again; learn from our mistakes and persevere. It allows a young person to express emotions through movement and discover themselves; who they are and who they want to be.

We thought it would be fun to check in with some of our alumni, to see what they are up to and, now that they are experiencing life in the real world, how dance continues to play a role in their day-to-day lives.

The interviewees:

• Jessalyn McPhail
RN working at the Foothills Hospital in neurology and neurosurgery
• Katelyn Espersen
Elementary and Middle School Math and Phys Ed Teacher
• Brianna McRae
Co-Founder, The Study
• Erin Trout
Psychology Student at the U of C
• Julie Pratt
Currently in her 4th year of a Bachelor of Business Administration at MRU
• Alyssa Hopkins
Customer Service/Gate Agent, Westjet

We wanted to know how dance contributes to the everyday lives of these young ladies, and what their biggest take-away’s were from their time at Snap. The over-arching message that comes through from all of them is that even well into their 20s, in various professions and stages of their lives (students, entrepreneurs, employees, wives and mothers) they are still taking the lessons they learned in the studio with them. It has made them strong, confident and successful young women and for that, we are so proud.

Please read below for their full response to our questions.

Jessalyn:
My dance background definitely developed my ability to be a good team player and my appreciation of teamwork. Besides a solo, the majority of my dance years were spent participating in a group. I learned how to collaborate and support others. It was important to develop the ability to celebrate and admire another dancer’s talents and to honestly cheer on my teammates when they excelled in perfecting dance steps (I still dream of the day I can do fouette turns!). Collaborating with others towards a common goal, with times of struggle, failure and success, was an invaluable experience for me. Dance class also honed my communication and leadership skills, my sense of accountability and my willingness to learn new skills.

The goal of my nursing profession is to provide top quality patient care and that is only achievable by being a respected member of a heath care team. I pride myself on being a reliable team member who is always open to learning and collaborating with my team. My dance training is one of the reasons that I am succeeding in my chosen field. My ability to value my teammates was developed in a dance studio and the dance steps are a very small part of what I carry with me from those years. When I look back on my dancing years, the most precious memories involve my teammates, whether it was winning a top award or knowing that we nailed our performance. Dancing has made me a better nurse! Who knew!

Katelyn:
Dance has been a part of my life since I was three years old. I grew up in the studio and it has guided me in my profession to this day. Dance taught me much more than the art of movement. To name a few, it taught me time management; how to collaborate with colleagues, and it helped develop my confidence.

Time management. Everyday after school I would head to the studio until 9 or 10 at night. Dinner and homework were done in the change room between classes. Socializing with friends was done in between homework and dinner. Practicing was done before we went to class, sometimes at the beginning of class (this was frowned upon!). As I went through grade school, the challenges of school and dance balance were sometimes tough. The hidden curriculum of the dance world is how to manage dance, school and family and social life all at the same time. This skill is crucial in my profession today. Juggling a work-life balance, planning and executing lessons, building relationships with students meanwhile having a life of my own outside the school walls.

Working with colleagues. In the dance world these ‘colleagues’ are your second family. Dance taught me how to communicate with others in even the most trying of times. Working towards a common goal is a skill I use everyday being a teacher. Collaborating, challenging and encouraging others are skills I learned in the studio. The relationships I made at the studio are ones that will last a lifetime.

Confidence. This isn’t something that comes easy for young girls. Most of us were self-conscious growing up. Being in a safe and comfortable environment, doing what I love with people that I love catered in developing my confidence. Being a dancer allowed me to grow as a person and in turn helped me discover who I was and what I wanted in life. The studio challenged me, pushed me to my limits, taught me to fail and how to recover and pick myself back up, this is where my confidence grew. I was able to be myself and take chances at the studio. Confident to make a decision, confident to follow through on that decision, confident to admit defeat and most importantly confident to try again. The dance community builds and molds young people into confident and strong adults through discipline and love.

Brianna:
These past few years I went through what every 20-something person goes through. You know – the big questions. What kind of career path do I want to pursue? What are my goals, visions and passions in life? What drives me? And ultimately what should I do with my life? What kept coming up for me was movement. My life needed to involve movement in some way, shape or form. This began in the dance studio at a very young age and continued through my time dancing on cruise ships and to my education of the body in Kinesiology. All of this has lead me to The Study, a Spin, Barre and Yoga studio that my business partner and I opened November 2016. It has been an incredible journey and it would not have been possible without dance in my life. It taught me so much and I continue to find value in my time at the studio.

In opening The Study I chose a way of life that centers around movement. Continuing to test my physical boundaries, my limitations and find the connection of mind, body and soul. This was absolutely something that started within the four walls of the dance studio. I wasn’t just learning how to dance, I was learning how to learn. We were taught about our bodies, to be creative, to take judgment out, to be us- real and raw. We all had different lives outside of the studio but when we came together, learning to move as one, work as a team and support each other, we became a family. Every single person who walked through the doors of the dance studio was welcome and embraced. As much as we set out to be synchronized, we also embraced variety and uniqueness.

All of this incredible knowledge was intertwined with combos and across the floor at dance class. The dance studio truly is a magical place and I attribute where I am today to what I learned there. Dance gave me the passion for movement that lead to embarking on the adventure of opening my very own fitness studio with the most incredible, like-minded movement junkie. It gave me the courage and confidence in myself to find my passion and follow it.

Erin:

The main thing dance taught me was hard work and this has helped enormously in my studies. In dance, if you wanted to succeed you couldn’t just show up to practice and then go home. You had to practice, stretch on your own, workout on your own, try to maintain a social life and do well in school! Now that I’m in university I find I can better manage my school work and extra circulars because my time at Snap has prepared me for the hard work and commitment to my studies that it takes to succeed.

Julie:

Dance contributed largely to my life over the 16 years as I learned the importance of friends, family, and community. Dance also taught me how to be a good leader and to take risks. Snap Dance Studios will always be my family and I hope more people get the opportunity to spend their childhood meeting new people and learning to express emotions through the movement of dance. For me, dance was the best way to express how I was feeling and the studio is where I learned to be a confident individual.

Alyssa:

I developed a passion for dance that was passed on to me from my dance teachers at Snap. They built me up and ensured I achieved my goals and was the best dancer I could be. They motivated me and gave corrections in a positive and encouraging way. They not only improved my dance technique but also the confidence I had in myself and that made me grow tremendously as a person.

After I graduated in 2013 I started working for WestJet. I don’t think I would have made it through that interview process with out having the background in dance that I do. Dance taught me how to work as a team player, how to work hard, how not to give up when I felt frustrated or overwhelmed, and how to be confident in the way I present myself. These are all values and lessons I developed when going to a competition and performing in front of the judges, and are skills I use every day in my role at Westjet.