Nineteen-year-old Bree Foerster made the transition from dance student to dance teacher when she started working at the Coastal Dance and Music Academy (CDMA) in Arroyo Grande.
Foerster got the job almost immediately after graduating from Nipomo High School in 2016, where she spent freshman to senior year dancing with the Nipomo High School Dance Company (NHSDC).
“Dance is really what got me through high school, I made so many friends,” Foerster said. “When you find something you love like that, a class, sport, or club, I recommend sticking to it all four years.”
Foerster was the only freshman in the NHSDC when she joined and served as the company’s president senior year, she said. Her experience in the company, along with additional training at the Dellos Performing Arts Center in Grover Beach, granted her a teaching position at the CDMA, Foerster said.
“I was extremely nervous on my first day of teaching. I’m pretty sure everyone in the room could hear my heart beating, it was thumping so loudly,” Foerster said. “But ever since then, it’s been amazing. Teaching is so rewarding, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
Foerster teaches both toddler and preschool classes, ages 2 to 5, at the CDMA, she said. Foerster teaches various types of dance—jazz, tap, hip-hop, and ballet—but contemporary dance stands out as her favorite, she said.
“Contemporary is my favorite because you’re able to just forget everything around you and just dance,” Foerster said. “It’s soft, tender, and expressive. You’re able to connect and express yourself in ways you couldn’t in real life.”
Along with teaching at the CDMA, Foerster has also been helping coach and choreograph the dance team at Orcutt Academy High School for the past year. Although she now takes on the role of a mentor figure, Foerster still feels like a student in many ways, she said.
“I’m still learning myself, I learn something new every single day of teaching,” Foerster said. “I learn from all of my students, no matter how young.”
When it comes to dancing, or any passion, Foerster’s advice is to do what you love no matter what without worrying what other people will think of you, she said.
“My biggest advice is to trust yourself and not to let others’ opinions or your own insecurities hold you back,” Foerster said. “When I finally learned to dance for myself rather than anyone else in the room, I became able to express myself more.”
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 4, 2017.