Samantha Tort

I am currently teaching at: Evolve Dance Studio

Contact me for private lessons or teaching inquiries!

As a Dance Teacher…

I strive to create a positive and supportive environment for my students to learn and grow as individuals. It is important to me that my students feel valued and encouraged, regardless of their skill level or background. My primary goal is to inspire a lifelong passion for dance within each student, while also fostering their creativity and artistic expression.

To achieve this goal, I incorporate various theories of education into my teaching, such as multiple intelligences and the importance of kinesthetic, verbal, and visual feedback. I believe that every student learns differently, and it is my job as an educator to facilitate their learning process in a way that feels comfortable and constructive for them. I also emphasize the fundamentals of technique in ballet and modern along with an anatomical understanding of motion. I enjoy creating room for creative expression through improvisation, games, and choice in music. The classroom should be both fun and foundational.

In my classes, I provide various forms of feedback to my students, with the goal of helping them improve while still feeling confident in their abilities. I provide private specific corrections to individual students one-on-one and give general feedback that can benefit the entire class with a focus on feeling and anatomical orientation. I also encourage strong communication between my students and myself, as well as between the students themselves. A sense of personal dancer discipline is important to me, so classmates and fellow dancers feel supported and free of distraction.

My class framework typically begins with opening announcements and exciting news, followed by a style specific warmup that appropriately relates to the overarching goal of the class. My influences include Vaganova and ABT ballet technique, as well as various modern and contemporary choreographers. My style is fluid and rhythmic, adapting to fit the energy of my students and their strengths. I make effort to include a solid workout to each class, with a focus on improving dancer endurance, flexibility, and strength.

In addition to teaching technique, I also believe in educating my students on the history of dance and its many forms. While it is important to know what has happened in the past, I do not believe in blindly honoring the masters. Instead, I encourage my students to explore and redefine what dance can be, while still respecting its roots. Dancers should also seek out information about current events and health. I provide my students with the tools to find accurate, relevant, and peer-reviewed information that is valuable to their journey through dance, including expanding knowledge about nutrition, sleep, fatigue, and proper training. Students should build a personal understanding for what is true and what is false.

Overall, my role as an educator is to create a safe and nurturing space for my students to grow as dancers and individuals. By emphasizing technique, creativity, and communication, I hope to inspire young dancers to embrace their creativity and ingenuity while building mobility and strength for life ahead.