"Just go for it. You were meant to do this."
In today’s studio spotlight, I want to introduce to you, Katrin Dal-Christiansen! Katrin’s school, Faroe Islands Dance School, is located in the Faroe Islands (which are in Scandinavia) and uses the Once Upon A Ballet curriculum. Katrin began teaching back in 1997 and first started renting her own space to teach from in 2013. Just last year, she took the leap to build her very own dance studio in her grandmother’s basement.
Katrin especially loves teaching creative dance and beginning ballet, and what she loves most of all are the smiles on her students’ faces when they enjoy themselves in her classes. She says the thing she enjoys most about teaching is when her students leave class happy and their parents tell her how much their child loves their dance class and even practices at home.
Before using the Once Upon A Ballet curriculum, Katrin says she felt a bit lost. But she now holds four terms a year, each with a different theme, and her student numbers have grown a lot. She now has 140 students—on an island with a population of just 51,000. Katrin also noted that she sells a lot in her dance shop, where the items always go with the fairy tale theme of the term.
The benefits of dance can be seen first hand at Katrin’s studio. A mom recently shared that her daughter’s confidence has grown so much because of being in dance class. Before dancing, she was quite nervous and shy. Dance has helped the little girl to grow into a very happy and brave girl.
Katrin says her students are very well behaved. In fact, their parents are often surprised that they don’t hear a lot of noise and running in her studio! When her students do get a bit loud, she tells them they need to lower their voices because her grandmother is asleep upstairs.
If Katrin could give her younger self any advice, she would say, “Just go for it. You were meant to do this.” I think this could be great advice to so many of us!
Thank you, Katrin, for sharing your story with us!
Happy Dancing!
Ashley Hartford
Founder + Owner, Once Upon a Ballet
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