About
I love teaching new things to my students. I'm passionate about sharing my knowledge and love of the performing arts, especially for those who have no previous experience. I find creative ways to help my students really learn what I teach them so that it meets their specific learning style.
I have performed in and choreographed numerous musical theatre productions, was a costume character dancer at Sesame Place, went on tour as a costume character dancer with Sesame St LIVE, taught/choreographed for several dance studios for about 5 years, and recently started creating dance film productions.
My styles include acrobatics, musical theatre, jazz, and my own version of contemporary and modern (my students liked to call it "Miss Gabby's creepy style").
I've been dancing and performing since I was 3 years old and have always known that the performing arts would be my passion. I love that moment when a student finally achieves a skill or masters something that was previously giving them trouble.
I also love creating and choreographing pieces that bring some sort of concept or story to life and seeing how it affects my students to be a part of that journey. These dance pieces are more than simply moving to a song but tell a deeper story and help the dancer grow as a person.
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
The first lesson is a free no-obligation lesson, where I can better assess the student's goals and the student has a chance to see my teaching style. From there we decided whether or not this is the right fit and to move forward with more lessons.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I've been dancing and performing since I was 3 years old. I studied at one studio for 13 years and also performed with a ballet company in a production of The Nutcracker for 7 years. In high school and college, I performed in several musical theatre productions as well as being dance captain for the marching band dance line for 3 years. After college, I performed as a costume character dancer at Sesame Place and then went on to go on tour with Sesame St LIVE.
After going on tour, I returned home to teach at numerous dance studios in a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, musical theatre, acrobatics, and competition teams. During that time I also choreographed a few musical theatre productions including High School Musical JR and Frozen JR.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
60 minutes
student travels to me - $30
we meet somewhere between - $40
I travel to student - $50
90 minutes
Student travels to me - $40
we meet somewhere between - $50
I travel to student - $60
120 minutes
student travels to me - $50
we meet somewhere between - $60
I travel to student - $70
How did you get started teaching?
I've always been the kind of person that helps others out when I know that I can help them. This really started during my first musical theatre productions during high school where I was the dance captain and choreographer's assistant for all four years. At a young age, I saw that I was able to remember and retain numerous roles and choreography for one show and was immediately put into a teaching role to help the other performers. Since then I have loved sharing what I know and what I love with others who want to learn the same.
Teaching is a way of sharing your love and passion for something with someone else.
What types of students have you worked with?
I have worked with students of all ages and experience levels. My youngest students were 3 years old and the oldest I've taught was a performer in their 50s for a musical theatre production.
I love teaching students of all levels because the main thing that matters to me is a willingness to learn, a love of trying new things (hopefully a love of dance and performing), and a chance to connect.
Describe a recent event you are fond of.
Recently I created a dance film production with three of my previous students. We shot the piece on location at an outdoor amphitheater and we had the greatest fun. As a choreographer, this project was great because I got to utilize different areas of the amphitheater, including a portion where we were dancing on benches.
You can check out this piece titled "The Call" on my YouTube channel.
What advice would you give a student looking to hire a teacher in your area of expertise?
Know that everyone has different experiences and more importantly a different style of teaching. Even if you have two teachers who had the same training and experience, they will inevitably teach in different ways and neither one is right or wrong. What matters is what fits your style of learning.
But, regardless, make sure that what your teacher has learned is correct. There is nothing worse than learning a certain technique or way to perform a move only to find out down the road that it was wrong and could be costly to your health and body or become a bad habit that will be difficult to break down the road.
What questions should students think through before talking to teachers about their needs?
What is it you want to get out of these lessons? Do you want to become more flexible? Stronger? Achieve a certain move or trick? Pursue a passion or hobby? Is this a long-term or short-term goal?
How do you best learn? Visual? Verbal? Breaking down into smaller parts? Physical correction from the teacher? Demonstration from the teacher?