don't stop until you get to the end...

i don't want to teach the little kids.

intermediate & advanced is more what i'm interested in...

words from my mouth.

i know, i know... some of you gasped & now think i'm a kid hater. well i assure you i am not... this post // this post // this post // && this post are my blog evidence... not to mention, the sight of a cutie kiddo or baby these days is sending 'baby fever' temps into the triple digits ;) i lovelove LOVE little kids, i just wasn't interested in teaching dance at that level. 

anyway... i love dance. i love TO dance & i love to choreograph dance. this being said, when it came to teaching, i mostly enjoyed teaching the older kids. i like to choreograph intricate & challenging stuff, and let's just be honest MOST (not all) but most younger kids aren't matured in their dancing to handle a crazy fast or intricate combination with a million 'and' counts. so the more i taught, the more i came to know where i flourished the most, and this was teaching advanced dancers. i started teaching when i was 15, and by the time i was 22, i taught all of the advanced classes, all styles & all company dancers at my mom's dance studio & later became the director. fast forward to a year later when we moved to charlotte, & after a short break from teaching, we were finally in one place long enough for me to start again...

when asked what i was hoping to teach, i immediately requested the opening statement of this blog. however, the Lord had a different plan...

because i would be filling in for a teacher out on maternity leave, i would have to teach whatever classes she was assigned. two of the classes being beginner, ages 5-6. you can imagine my excitement & anxiety. this was newwww territory. no. it didn't come with the challenge of creating crazy challenging moves & 5 pirouettes. in my mind, it was a whole different kind of challenge that i wasn't sure i was ready to take on....

what if they cry?

what if i don't have patience?

how do i control a class of twenty 5 year olds?

the list goes on...

well i had no choice && boy was i wrong about how this new venture would go!

i am in love.

no really.

i am completely smitten with our two beginner classes. they are sunshine on the cloudiest of days & my heart goes pitter-patter everytime i walk into the room & their faces light up & they run to give me a hug.

the Lord has truly opened my heart in a way i never really thought about. i've always known that in my role as a teacher, i am helping shape the lives of young adults, but now i have the opportunity to influence little baby girls too!?!? praise Jesus for that! i look forward to our beginner classes & never leave the studio on those days in a bad mood, regardless of how i went in :)

so littles... thank you for always putting a smile on my face. your happy hearts, your innocence, & your wonder bring me so much joy! thank you for being precious. i love teaching you.

oh.. and did i mention how excited i'll be to have littles of my very own one day, so we can have pictures like this & this?! so sweeeet. thank you Lord for changing my dance teacher heart! You never stop teaching me, and i am thankful!

**photos from pinterest**