Robert Brower, Owner and Director, describes Storytellers Dance Academy LLC (SDA) in Stallings, North Carolina, as a safe, fun place for all kinds of dancers to come and enjoy themselves. With every single class, they are always trying to create a fun environment for the dancers, because they feel that this truly inspires the dancers to keep pushing further. At the end of the day, SDA believes that dance should be a fun experience for the entire family. They also focus on living up to their name and telling stories with each dance they perform. They never want the audience to know quite what to expect the next time they see them out on the stage.
Robert believes their studio stands out from others because their main focus is not only on encouraging their dancers to grow, but also on creating a fun environment for both their dancers and their families. From every competition to every recital, they want to create the best possible experience for what they call their entire SDA family. They built their studio around the thought that, years down the road, their dancers will not remember exactly which trophies they won or titles they received, but they will have the memories of the wonderful times spent with their dance families. With that being said, SDA has found that, through providing a positive, fun atmosphere for their dancers, they are able to inspire them to push their skills to further heights. They constantly see their dancers grow with each performance and pushing themselves further than they could possibly imagine. Through all of this, they do it with smiles on their faces, and the cheering of their teammates constantly encourages them. It truly motivates us to always strive to make the studio the best it can be. They also try to do this by introducing their dancers to as many varieties of each style of dance as possible. They love classical tap mixed with newer steps, and they have been working to introduce this to their dancers at a time when they feel tap is not as prevalent as it once was. This is on top of many other styles, through which they make themselves storytellers. Storytellers offer trainng in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, and Hip Hop.
Storytellers Dance Academy is currently in their third season as a studio, but already, they have been very proud of their dancers. They have seen so many dancers master new steps, and they’ve seen the joy in their eyes when that hard work is recognized at competitions and other performances. However, over these short three years, they have now received awards at multiple competitions for the sportsmanship and friendliness of their entire SDA family. From the day they decided to open their studio, they wanted to be known as a place with great dancers and routines, as well as a friendly studio to compete against. They always encourage their dancers to cheer on other studios and to be as gracious and polite as possible. This was the foundation they used to build their studio through their first season, when they had seven students total, and it is still incredibly prevalent now that they have over 60 students total coming through their studio each week. It is a true testament to how incredible their dancers and their families are, and they are constantly reminded of their graciousness. So, seeing that sportsmanship rewarded would have to be Robert’s proudest moment as a studio owner. He is incredibly proud when they are recognized as fantastic dancers, but he is even more proud when they are recognized as the fantastic people that they are.
With their studio growing as much as it has over these past three years, they have seen dancers from all different backgrounds and previous studio experiences. Robert believes that the biggest mistake a dancer can make is what he or she focuses on in dance. He has been personally dancing for quite a while now, and has seen many people focus solely on winning or being the best. While everyone should always strive to be the best that he or she can be, focusing solely on being better than your peers can be detrimental in the long run. In Robert’s opinion, if you focus on what another dancer can do versus what you can do, you are wasting precious time that you could be spending on yourself. If you focus on tearing down a peer, you are not only hurting them, but also yourself. Fortunately, they have been blessed by many incredible people at their studio who understand what this focus should be, but they also are upfront about this with each person who joins their studio. They are not a studio that encourages their dancers to compete against each other for the top spot. That creates such an unhealthy atmosphere and takes away the focus from what the dancers truly love. Instead, SDA works on personal growth while encouraging everyone else. At the end of the day, dance should be fun. It should be something they all enjoy, whether it is in technique class or getting to perform in a recital. When you’re having fun, it is much easier to grow and to be the best you can possibly be.
Another mistake is not listening to corrections given, as those are what truly help a dancer, both as an individual and as part of a group. Since many of their dancers do have different dance backgrounds, they have also had different forms of training over time and have received different methods of corrections. Robert thinks that, sometimes, as teachers they should tell dancers they need to correct something without telling them how to actually correct the technique. With each and every class Robert teaches, he tries to give each dancer corrections as detailed as possible while also not being afraid to give compliments as well. Dancers should listen for ways to improve, but it is also incredibly difficult for them to do so if they don’t know what to work on. From the moment a dancer joins their studio, Robert lets him or her know about his method of corrections and what should be done with them. That is the easiest way to grow as a dancer, and is also the best way to avoid what could otherwise be viewed as a mistake.
Robert’s main goal this year is to maintain the same spirit to their studio that they have had thus far. He likes to think that he has a personal relationship with each dancer and that dancer’s family. He likes to know what is going on in their lives outside of the studio so that he can support them and build them up in every aspect of their lives. Though their team and entire studio has grown drastically over these three years, he always wants for them to maintain that same relationship. He wants to be there for each dancer so that they know he is his or her biggest supporter. As they grow, they will evolve as a studio. This year, they moved into a new location that more than doubled their studio space, and they have already purchased land on which to build a studio within the next few years. However, with this growth, they want to be the same studio that was the smallest at every competition their first year. They have more teachers and students than they did that first year, but it feels like they have all been a part of their SDA family since the beginning. He always wants to keep it that way.
Robert is also constantly trying to improve himself as a dancer and as a teacher. He needs to always evolve and learn new things in order to provide the best opportunities for his dancers. He wants for them to always be able to learn new steps and strengthen their technique to support the stories they tell on the stage. Robert’s personal goal is to always be the best teacher and mentor possible for each dancer to step through their door.
Robert decided to open Storytellers because he was at a point in his dance life where it did not mean quite as much to him as it had at one point in time. He wanted to be able to renew that love of dance, but he didn’t have any clue that he would find a love for dance as deep as he has now. SDA wanted to create a positive atmosphere for anyone with any dance background, and they wanted to help them find that love of dance as well. In a world with so many negative influences and so many things tearing down the confidence of these young dancers, they wanted to provide a place to build them up. Knowing that they can be that positive inspiration for just one dancer is incredible. Being able to provide that inspiration for all of their dancers now is the best feeling in the world, and he would not trade it for anything.
On top of training their dancers and telling as many stories as possible with each performance, they try to create many fun opportunities for their dancers outside of class. They try to encourage their dancers to be a family, but they know that with so many dancers at so many different ages, this can be difficult to coordinate outside of dance. For this reason, they have multiple team nights throughout the year, including an SDA Prom in the Spring. Just getting to spend this extra time with all of their dancers is fantastic for them, and their dancers have a blast all getting to be together. It helps to strengthen their bond as a dance family, which helps all of their performances in the end!
They are also incredibly thankful for their wonderful staff. They are currently in their first year of offering recreational classes, and with those new classes have come an expanded staff. They have multiple student teachers who have grown and thrived in their teaching skills this year, and they are continually impressed by their hard work and dedication. They also have Miss Breanne, a wonderful ballet teacher who truly puts the focus on helping students to understand the technique of ballet while also enjoying themselves. Lastly, they have Miss Jennifer as Robert’s co-director of the competition team. Miss Jennifer was actually one of his teachers when he was younger, and they have always shared a friendship that they now fortunately get to include as a part of their studio! Robert credits her with inspiring his teaching methods and his love for dance, and it has been great having her help to grow the studio. They could not be more thankful for each and every member of their SDA staff!
When he was growing up, his favorite dance style was tap. Though his love for all styles has greatly developed over the years, tap will always hold a special place in his heart. As they have grown over these past three years, they have added many students with either limited or no previous tap experience. He has thoroughly enjoyed getting to spread this love of tap with so many new dancers, and it has been great getting to see them develop these new skills. He likes to consider his style of tap as soft shoe with a touch of modern steps, and believes the pictures they create beyond the movement of their feet are incredibly important to the style. In other styles, he has a great appreciation for classic styles with a modern twist. He likes to constantly evolve, and believes that while their current dances capture the same heart as their dances from their first season, they are also very different. They always want to be different from what they feel others are putting out there, and they also try to make all of their dances within their studio different from one another. Giving their dancers the opportunities to stretch both their performance and dancing skills as much as possible is incredibly important to me. He also likes to help the dancers learn about historical events and different evolutions of dance through all of their performances, because he thinks that dance can be helpful in expanding their knowledge throughout their entire lives.
At the end of the day, he is just incredibly thankful for each and every dancer and family that has ever stepped into their studio. His life has changed so much over these past three years due to these wonderful people, and he now couldn’t possibly imagine his life without any of them in it. He cannot wait to see where their story takes them next! At Storytellers, they are just getting started!
If you would like more information about Storytellers Dance Academy, visit their website at www.storytellersdanceacademy.com, call them at 704-975-3668 or email them at storytellersdanceacademy@gmail.com. You can also “Like” them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/StorytellersDanceAcademy/?ref=hl), follow them on Twitter (https://twitter.com/storytellerssda) and connect with them on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/storytellersdanceacademy).
Anyone who has danced at Storytellers Dance Academy, with Robert Brower or with any of the other instructors at Storytellers, is invited to comment on their blog.
. . . the biggest mistake a dancer can make is what he or she focuses on in dance . . . many people focus solely on winning or being the best.
