Laura White is a Brooklyn resident, vibrant human being, talented artist, and devoted educator who was a part of the ABBD WOMXN course in September 2020. Not only is she a phenomenal dancer, but she is also currently working as a first grade teacher. She contributed such joyous energy and thoughtful insight to class discussions, to the point where I started calling her “assistant professor White” and pleaded her to start a podcast (so we could all hear her soothing, wise voice talk forever).
In the wake of the pandemic, Laura launched Dancing with Ms. White, a program aimed to provide affordable virtual dance classes to help young students (ages 2-12) stay active during quarantine. This program not only provided an important outlet for energetic kids who have had to adjust to the new difficult reality of staying at home and virtual school, but also a much-appreciated respite for their parents and families.
LW: I started ‘Dancing with Ms. White’ because I wanted to continue dancing with my students after I quit my job at an organization that wasn’t aligned with the same things I was, in terms of education and the emotional/mental wellbeing of my students. I wanted to bring kids together too, so that they could have other kids to have fun with and know they’re not in this alone.
Not only does this business apply to what I want to do long-term, but it also applies to what I want to do as a teacher in education. I’m going back to school for my teaching certificate! And I realized i want to do more research in general on how dance education can help students focus more in school and just with anything in general that they want to work on.
One of the things I really want to instill in all of my students is just confidence. And not just confidence in the sense of “I’m great at this, or I’m the best at this," but just the confidence to try things. Even in general, in my classes right now I notice we’ll be doing guided reading, or we’ll do math - and I’ll have students who are so afraid to answer because they’re scared, or they’re too afraid to try. And being able to try new things is just another portion of being confident. Dance for me was the first time I was like, whoa, I can do this in front of other people - and I’m starting to feel confident because of this outlet that I have.
Laura recognizes that dance is not the “end all be all” for all her students, as not every kid who takes her class will go on to pursue dance professionally, but she added that “just being able to try something in class that’s new to them or awkward to them at first, and then say ‘oh actually it feels good when I do this,’ or ‘it makes me feel good when I can express myself’ - it’s so beautiful to see.” Her vision for the program long-term is to bring it to schools around the community, keep costs affordable (or ultimately free), and reach/positively impact as many students as possible.
Laura will be using the Microgrant funds to establish Dancing with Ms. White as an official LLC, as well as fund supplies (dance journals) for her students.
