What makes développé different?
Développé was formed out of my own personal growth. After many years of teaching at many different types of dance schools and programs, I still had not found one that “fit”. I found myself thinking about what I would do differently. Pondering what I felt was missing in my own dance education and a general feeling that dance education had not evolved in a way that met the expectations of the work that is currently presented in the professional world, I began to realize that there was not enough focus on looking at young dancers as whole people.
Becoming a dancer is so much more than learning proper technique (although technique will always be a necessity); becoming a dancer is a lifestyle, a mentality. And while many dancers start dancing because they have a love for movement, musicality or just the idea of being a dancer; sadly just as many leave their training because they have not been given the support and skills to deal with injury, body image and positive internal dialogue.
What do you want out of your dance education?
In building développé, I have found myself creating a new professional community to take on this challenge. I have dialogued with my former teachers, company members, nutritionists and physical therapists in an effort to give myself the broadest knowledge base I can have and to build a professional community both the dancers and I can reach out to when we need support beyond our walls. I will take the knowledge I have gained and add it to my belief that there is not one way to teach anything! Instead, looking at each dancer as an individual and teaching to the person in front of you will allow a dancer to meet the potential that is within them.