Teresa Meyers

When I was a little girl, that's all I wanted to do was teach dance. And when I was 8 years old, my mom lost her father and went into a horrible depression. I was the youngest of 4 kids, so I was in my room alone a lot. And that is where I taught dance to my imaginary class, and I had lessons, and I had plans. I think about that all the time, that back then, my mom was on the sofa so sad, and I was up in my room knowing that's what I was going to do one day, and I was happy! I was so happy! So at 8 years old, I knew I was gonna be a teacher. I knew I was gonna teach kids, and I knew I was gonna be able to make them grow in a beautiful way, other than just dance, because it goes way deeper. I always knew, which is wild. I always knew, and then I chased it until it became mine.

If you're inspired by it, write it down. And I have. I have a journal of tons of ideas that I look back on often, and they're usually great ones. Not only an idea, but even a thought - if I have an idea or a thought, write it down, because you're gonna forget it. It's busy. My grand champion 2 years in a row winner - that idea I had for that dance was a 10 year-old idea. I wasn't sure what I was going to use that year, and I needed to write something magical and wonderful. I went back in the book and found it. I ended up doing a number about the three little pigs and the wolf, but it was four pigs and a wolf, set to 'Who Can It Be Now' by Men at Work. I re-told the story of the pigs and the wolf, and it went viral. It was a really neat number. So yes, that was a 10 year-old idea that I got back out of that journal, because I wrote it down.

The first thing that comes to mind is don't give up. That's the first thing that comes to mind. Don't give up. Stay focused... because it's gonna happen. It's just plain and simple. Don't give up. It's going to be really easy to give up. Don't do it. I almost did. I almost did a couple times, and then even in my 30s, I wasn't getting where I wanted to be, and then my 40s hit, and I was like, okay, I think I got this! I think this is mine now. It's not something I'm chasing anymore, this is finally mine! And it feels good.

There's a couple of them. The biggest challenges are doubt within dancers, doubt within not only dancers, but athletes. There's a little bit of self-doubt going on right now, a little bit of an epidemic and it hinders a lot of growth. So, I think that is the biggest challenge for teachers right now to pull out of their students. And then the biggest opportunities - scholarships ofcourse, but there's more opportunity for dance on the stage with artists than there ever was in the past. There always seems to be dancers, and it will never, ever be able to be AI-generated. So that's job security for dancers. But you see a lot of dancing going on now, a little bit reverting back to the old school dancing, and the ballroom, with Dancing with the Stars & popular shows now. So it seems to be more opportunity now for dancers than there ever was in the past. Social media, too. A lot of social media is a lot of opportunity, but social media is also a lot of challenge. You have students who have no problem memorizing a TikTok dance, but when they're in a ballet setting with a barre, they're blank.

Fairness. Fairness, fairness and loyalty. I lost my mom and dad this year, not that this has to be piece of it, but I lost both my mom and dad this year, within 8 months. It was absolutely not something I saw coming. I then saw the power of my family. Strong Italian Americans. So, any & every chance I get, I love to spend time with my family. My two girls are my strength & I couldn’t do most of what I do without their love.