Moving Thoughts #01 — How I Found Teaching

practice • process • perspective

I used to think performing was the path.

For a long time, that was the dream I said out loud. Teaching began much more quietly.

It started with one hip hop class a week at my home studio — something that initially felt like a way to stay connected to dance while supporting all the other parts of life.

But somewhere along the way, teaching stopped being the thing beside the dream and became part of the dream itself.

Over the years, one class became many. Hip hop led to ballet, lyrical, jazz, acro, contemporary. Studios changed. Students changed. I changed.

And one thing I’ve learned is that where you teach matters just as much as what you teach.

The energy of a studio matters. Its culture matters. Its belief system matters.

I don’t think I fully understood how much until much later.

It took me years — honestly many years — to begin choosing spaces that aligned with the kind of educator and human I wanted to be. And when I finally did, everything shifted.

What began at a studio steps from my home grew into years of deep connection, growth, and shared development with students and families I care for deeply. That experience gave me the courage to expand beyond my usual area, teach in new communities, and keep seeking spaces rooted in the same values I hold close: care, curiosity, discipline, collaboration, and community.

And something I keep coming back to is this:

What you are looking for often finds you when you keep moving toward it.

I’ve seen that in every teaching transition I’ve made.

Now, when I think about how I found teaching, I don’t think I found it all at once.

I think I found it in layers.

Through students.

Through hard studio lessons.

Through learning where I belonged.

And I’m still finding it.

Curious — for those who teach, create, or move with others…Did you always know teaching was part of your path, or did it reveal itself over time too?

— Victoria