Silhouette School Of Dance & Fine Arts Teaches The "Love Of Dance" With An Emphasis On LOVE!

Teaching the art of dance is something a dance studio does. The instructors mold the students from a little girl, twirling around with visions of becoming a ballerina into a young adult going off with a possible career in the field of the arts. At Silhouette School of DANCE & FINE ARTS, this vision is just the beginning of what studio owner Donna Rakerd- Converse, known as ‘Miss Donna’, does. Students come to Silhouette and learn more than just how to dance. They learn the love of the art, self respect for themselves and others, and how to work as a team. Every girl and boy that walks through the front door is greeted with love. Hugs from Miss Donna are a standard greeting. Beyond that, every student knows that they are accepted for who they are, regardless of disability, size, or skill level. Students are praised for their own individual accomplishments and pushed at their own level.

As a teacher for over 17 years at the studio, I have seen first hand the level of love and acceptance Miss Donna has for each student. I have watched students who mastered dance being a size that other studios would have turned away. I have watched Miss Donna work with students who come to us with mental disabilities and have been able to strive in their dance to work alongside typical students. We have students with physical disabilities and told they could not dance, enter the studio with smiles because they get that opportunity in a private lesson with Miss Donna. These students are made safe. Safe from bullying, safe from ridicule and safe to learn life skills all while working on their own passion for dance.

Miss Donna teaches early on the importance of the students finding their own personal love for dance. Older students can recall the quotes of inspiration that Miss Donna taught them as a toddler. A common one is “the dancer inside your heart”, symbolizing that the art of dance is something each student finds as they grow as a dancer. Not from what their instructors teach them, not from the costumes they put on at recital but solely because each student has their own ability to dance, even with a financial limit, a disability, or even a physical issue. Silhouette School of DANCE & FINE ARTS is accepting new students for the coming 2013-2014 season. Miss Donna and staff are ready to greet your child and let them find their love of dance in a studio that does not mirror the reality shows on TV but lets them find their own vision of dance, from a toddler in ballet to the teen in competition team level.

Teresa Mulroy Balawender is an instructor at Silhouette School of Dance & Fine Arts.