What happens to our POD alumni after they graduate? Sometimes they end up back here as teachers! This summer, the studio has THREE teaching staff who started out as dancers themselves. Let’s meet them!
Mr. Nicholas Powers has been with the studio longer than just about anyone else, as the youngest child of co-owner Elizabeth. Nicholas got his start when the studio opened in 2007. He was just two, but was watching a class through the viewing window and learned the routine, so they let him jump in. While it may seem that dance came easily to Nicholas, he says dance taught him that “it’s okay to struggle, because that’s where growth and improvement happens. If life was easy it would be boring, and you won’t always know if you’re doing the right thing, you just have to take a chance.” Nicholas teaches Acro, Ballet and skills classes and strives to push his students past the limits they have set for themselves, as he recognizes that because his teachers pushed him past his own personal limits, he then developed the confidence to set new goals for himself.
Ms. Maddie Butler actually started out as a gymnast, but when injuries forced her into retirement, she switched to dance as an outlet for her energy and athleticism. Maddie danced with POD from 2018 to 2022, where she said she “learned what it meant to be a team”. She also says she focused on perseverance when she switched sports. “I was behind in a lot of the dance skills (especially turns) because I began dancing when I entered high school. But I didn’t let that stop me. When I had the chance, I’d watch my teammates and seniors do the skills I couldn’t do, I’d analyze it, and then I’d go home and practice.” She applies that in her teaching now, as Maddie leads Acro classes of all ages and loves the excitement she gets to share with her students when their hard work pays off and they get a new skill.
Ms. Brianna Tate joined the POD staff in August of 2023, but started dancing when she was just two years old. She later came to POD to try out a hip hop class and fell in love with the studio, dancing here for a total of ten years. About her time as a dancer, she says “I found my true passion for teaching and working with kids while helping out in a variety of classes. I gained a lot of confidence in myself and the things I do in life because of dance and the support system I had throughout being involved in it.” Brianna is now a certified Early Childhood teacher, and primarily works with the studio’s youngest dancers in addition to teaching 4K in the Head Start program.
This article was originally published in our June 2024 newsletter.