BATON ROUGE, LA (LOCAL33) (FOX44) – One Louisiana woman is following her passion as a dance instructor, and impacting the lives of children with special needs in our community.
Jennifer White’s days start bright and early and end very late.
“This morning I taught a kick boxing class, a power yoga class, then went home and made lunch for my son and then I come here and teach all night,” said White.
Between running a business and being a mom, she stays very busy.
Early in her career she was a graphic designer, and taught dance on the side, but that changed after her first son was born.
“When he was born the umbilical cord was around his neck 4 times, and he had a massive stroke. He has Cerebral Palsy. So all of a sudden I had this baby who was in very critical condition.”
It was a new challenge to overcome.
“I was able to work from home and still teach ballet to be able to take my son to his physical therapies. And when the dance center came up for sell I told my husband I think we need to do this, and we did.”
White, a dancer, and her husband, a musician, opened the Dance Center and School of Performing Arts, and never looked back.
“Even when it seems like something isn’t so great, there is something that is coming along that’s going to workout. It’s been a good investment for us, and a wonderful opportunity to teach kids wonderful arts.”
Helping her son thrive, not only encouraged her to follow her passion of dance, but also helped inspire her newest passion, teaching kids with special needs.
“Being able to come into this class, this special needs class, it’s a little more free style and it’s just enjoyable. It’s really more all about fun. We do try to get the heart rate up, we do a little stretching, so there are some fundamental things. We learn dances, we do choreography. Sometimes I ask what did we do in this part, and they remember. It’s amazing!”
Today her studio is a one stop shop.
“Let’s say you have 4 kids, you can come here and one can be in a ballet class, one can be in a drama class, one can be taking a piano lesson, one can be taking a violin lesson, so you can come and get it all done at one time.”
White said her studio is welcome to anyone willing to learn.
“It’s just a very welcoming place, and I think it’s nice for parents to be able to come to a ballet school, a dance school and performing arts school, and get some good education just like anybody else.”
If you would like to learn more about White or her performing arts school click here.
