All About Dance & More (AADM) in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, instills a child’s love for dance and tumbling. At AADM, they build dancers self-esteem and self-discipline, and nurture young minds to be the best dancers they can be. Since 2007, the surrounding communities around Mt. Sterling have entrusted student’s dance and tumbling education to AADM. For ages 3 years old to adults, the studio offers classes, such as ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop, poms, cheer, modern dance, lyrical, tumbling and trampoline. All classes highlight traditional dance techniques, age appropriate ballet and dance terms, unique choreography, and use of modern pop music.
In July 2014, AADM got a new home! The studio is now located in a new facility having two dance studios, lobby area, full size gym area for tumbling and trampoline, and dressing room. The studio is now able to offer much more to its students and staff.
In the opinion of Sara Hoots, the Studio Owner, All About Dance stands out from other studios by keeping up to date on the latest dance trends. At AADM, they teach that skills are an important aspect of a professional dance and/or tumbling teacher. Sara, as well as her staff, has certification through USA Gymnastics and United States Tumbling and Trampoline Association on tumbling and spotting techniques. All dance instructors at AADM are members of Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and have completed certifications tests in the areas of ballet, tap, jazz, and modern studies. As a studio owner, Sara thinks that continuing a dance education proves to her students and community that her passion for this art is important.
In a small farm community, AADM offers such a wide variety of not only dance but tumbling 
and trampoline as well. AADM is home of the Airborne Team, featuring their tumbling and trampoline team athletes. This is their 2nd year as a competition team featuring 42 tumblers. As members of USTA their athletes travel to USTA competition meets around the state and nationals this year in Knoxville, Tennessee.
As a coach, Sara’s proudest moments are far from the First Place wins, advanced skill completion, or outstanding dance technique in dance class. Her proudest moments are seeing the life lessons that are getting instilled in their students as they take classes at AADM. Sara is am honored to hear of her graduating dancers completing nursing school and explain how dance classes taught them discipline, commitment, and never giving up on a goal. She is honored when she witnesses their team athletes being humble winners and motivating others that may be struggling at a meet. She is honored when a student informs her how dance has helped them in speech class by not being nervous to get up in front of people. She is honored when she has dancers that are student helpers on staff team speak to her in person, not through social media or text, when communicating a problem, fear, or personal need. To Sara, these life lessons are her proudest moments of being a coach.
In Sara’s opinion, the biggest struggle for dancers, especially at AADM, is energy through the hands and knowing where their focus should be during each move. As dancers learn combos, she continually sees them working on the memorization of the dance instead of focusing on the details of each move. Sara believes that as a dancer matures and takes multiple classes, they can make improvement with this simple fix.
As a studio owner, Sara’s goal for this year is to build their Airborne team, retain past students, and create a knowledge based staff team. As her studio continues to grow, she is starting to delegate and create opportunities for others within the studio to thrive as well. Having a strong, well-educated team around Sara not only motivates her to be a stronger teacher but also allows her to create much needed family time on weekends when she is not working. Delegating this season has been a success thus far but is defiantly a learning process.
Dance and Tumbling has a huge impact in Sara’s life. She met lifelong friends, gained self-confidence, and found a love for performing. She started All About Dance & More so that she could give back all of those things and more to the surrounding communities. It has been a blessing for her to create an environment that she can change and maintain and to be able to be her own boss.
All About Dance & More is in its ninth season. They have a Students’ Works Concert coming up in March and an end of the year recital in June. Currently, they have two senior advanced students that are continuing their dance education at the collegiate level next fall. They look forward to many more years of dance and tumbling.
If you would like more information about All About Dance & More, visit their website at www.allaboutdanceandmore.com, call them at 1-217-473-3970 or email them at allaboutdanceandmore@yahoo.com. You can also view YouTube.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Sara Hoots of About Dance & More.
