Why I Started Once Upon a Ballet
A few weeks ago, we introduced you to Lee Ann Stehle. Lee Ann is one of our OUB Contributing Teachers helping with our upcoming curriculum release of Little Dancer—which is available for pre-order at 50% off until May 20!
We've been interviewing teachers and studio owners who use our curriculums. We've heard so many wonderful things! What's so interesting is everyone's story is different. And I LOVE hearing each of their stories. What else? So far, everyone sees something different in Once Upon a Ballet. It's so cool, and I can't wait to continue rolling out these stories on the blog!
But I was thinking... I haven't introduced myself in a while!
Today, I want to share with you my teaching philosophy, my background, and why I started Once Upon a Ballet.
I believe in making dance for little ones as fun and imaginative as possible. Our children are naturally amazing learners, but only when we let kids be kids and guide them through play. When we make exploring new concepts in dance class exciting, our children's hearts and minds will grow are flourish.
Childhood should be magical; so should dance class. That's why I created Once Upon a Ballet—to help teachers inspire their youngest students. All of our materials are meant to bring FUN into the dance classroom, but in a way that is educational, age-appropriate, fosters child development, and gives students a strong foundation for beginning levels of dance later on. When we make our dance classes fun, inviting, and magical, children can learn so much!
But who am I to tell you about teaching ballet or growing a studio?
I first fell in love when I saw The Nutcracker on TV, followed by Cinderella on stage on a school field trip. I was completely hooked on ballet but also grew up jazz, modern, and tap, and was on my high school dance team. I danced professionally with the Appalachian Ballet Company—where I danced for two years as a soloist, followed by six years as a principal dancer.
My favorite roles were the Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, the Autumn Fairy in Cinderella, Tiger Lily in Peter Pan, and a number of contemporary ballets and works.
I started teaching dance to young children over 20 years ago. The earliest classes I taught were based on the teachings of Anne Gilbert Green for creative dance and Leap 'N Learn and the Royal Academy of Dance for ballet. I later opened my own studio where I created my own curriculum: Once Upon a Ballet. Since then, I've packaged Once Upon a Ballet into a curriculum that has now been used by more than 1,000 teachers in over 30 countries around the world.
I'm also an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 7, and I've attended the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Teacher Workshop with the late Marcia Dale Weary. I'm a certified health coach with a focus on children and families. I also have a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee and a graduate certificate in marketing from Cornell University.
Since working with ballet teachers and studio owners around the world, I've come to realize a few things...
Teachers and studio owners need FUN and ENGAGING curriculums for their preschool and young dancer programs. But they also need curriculums that take CHILD DEVELOPMENT into account and foster a LOVE FOR LEARNING and STRONG TECHNIQUE. Honestly, it's hard to find all of that in a single program or curriculum.
That's why I created Once Upon a Ballet.
What I love most about Once Upon a Ballet is how far its reach has stretched! We have teachers literally all over the world who use our curriculums and dance activities in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and even countries in Europe and other places where English is not the first language. It truly shows that dance is so universal! Many, many years ago, I started out teaching just a few ballet classes a week. Now I run a program that helps teachers and studios bring joy and imagination and correct technique to thousands of young dancers around the world.
To all of you who use any part of Once Upon a Ballet, whether it's our curriculums, our course, our membership, or our studio licensing—thank you! Thank you for making this possible, and thank you for all that you do for your students. You make such a difference in their lives and they are truly blessed to have you.
Get a FREE Dance Activity Pack
Freshen up your toddler and preschool dance classes with this set of fun and imaginative dance activities!
Little Dancer Curriculum
Our Brand New Little Dancer Curriculum is available for pre-order now! Order early to save.
What We’re All About
At Once Upon a Ballet, we want to help you teach dance in a way that sparks your students’ imaginations, keeps their attention, and has them leaving class excited for what’s next.
DANCE CURRICULUMS
Our complete curriculums for toddler and preschool dance and children’s ballet give you a full year of lesson plans for each age group. Our lesson plans are rooted in child development and teach dance through imagination and play. We strongly emphasize correct, age-appropriate ballet techniques for young children, as well as building self-esteem, creativity, problem-solving, and classroom skills.
CERTIFIED TEACHERS
If you teach toddler or preschool dance, our teacher certification course gives you the tools to better connect with your littlest students, keep their attention, and have better classroom behavior.
LICENSED STUDIOS
For our licensed studios, we provide branding and marketing support to help them grow their classes that use our curriculums.