Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts in Lake Helen, Florida, is a public charter school for grades kindergarten through 8th in Lake Helen, Florida. Their Illumination Dance Team is a competitive team for dancers in grades 3 through 8. Team membership is by audition only. The dancers are split into two teams, one for Elementary, and one for Middle School, and they compete both Regionally and Nationally against studio trained dancers in the area. They also perform around the community.
Natalie Kushner, Dance Director for Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts, and Director of the Illumination Dance Team for Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts, teaches a wide variety of dance styles, but focuses on a foundation of ballet and jazz to build strong technique in her dancers. She likes to choreograph positive, energetic dances that showcase her dancers’ talents and abilities, as well as give them a chance to let their passion for dance shine through in their personalities on stage. She takes pride in choosing age appropriate pieces and costumes so that her dancers relate to the material and feel good about performing it.
She says that she actually just had her proudest teaching moment this past month! She has been teaching dance at Ivy Hawn for the past four years, and has also been building the dance team during that time. She takes the dance team to compete at regional and national dance competitions that only private studios attend. It never fails that they are the only public school that attends. Natalie is very humble and only takes the team for experience. 
Additionally, she does not want her team treated differently. Consequently, no one at the competition has ever known that they are a public charter school and not a dance studio. Most of her students on the team do not receive dance training outside of her class at school and have never competed before. This February they attended a competition, and received two Platinum Trophies, four “1st Place in Category” awards, four High Gold Trophies, and Natalie was a finalist for the “Best Choreography Award.” Four of her dancers were selected through an audition to go to New York this summer and dance on Broadway. Natalie’s dancers and their parents were so proud of themselves and their team, and it was a huge breakthrough for their dance program. She felt like finally, all of her hard work and passion had paid off, and her dancers are getting a well-deserved moment in the sun. She was so extremely proud of them!
Natalie believes the biggest mistakes a dancer can make are to not have a solid foundation of technique, and go too hard too fast. By this, she means that proper training takes time, and when it is done correctly, you will have a flawless dancer that can do anything. When dancers do not take the time for technique and foundation, they push their body to do things they are not ready for and usually end up injured. Her advice is to never quit ballet, and make sure you find the right school and teacher for you!
Her goals for this year are to finish strong in their competition season, with happy dancers that are proud of all that they have accomplished together. She hopes they are able to find the funding they need to get their team to New York this next summer for Nationals and to support their four dancers that were given the opportunity to perform on Broadway!
Natalie has danced since she was two years old, and dance has always been her passion. She also loves working with children. When she was in high school, her dance teacher, Miss Maureen Gibson, gave her a wonderful opportunity to start teaching dance to the younger students at the studio, and her career took off from there!
Natalie is a mom to three beautiful dancing daughters! She trained with Miami City Ballet, The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Sarasota Ballet, and North Carolina School of the Arts. She grew up in Palm Harbor, Florida, and trained at Steps School of Dance in Clearwater. Also, she performed in the Superbowl 35 pregame show with Sting and Styx.
If you would like more information about Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts, visit the school’s website at ivyhawnschool.org, call them at 386-228-3900. You can also “Like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Natalie Kushner of Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts.
