Ballerina K and Teacher Terrel. Image by Dan Lao Photography.
Dance is not just a stunning performance for audiences or a career for dedicated artists; it’s an endless source of joy that can be experienced by everyone in each stage of life.
Teacher Terrel has embraced ballet as a lifelong companion, a constant thread of choreography weaving the various chapters of her life together. Backed by years dedicated to dance training and a wealth of wisdom, she now extends her passion to the next generation through Once Upon A Dance, a business that creates interactive movement and dance books for children of a wide array of ages.
Join us as we talk with Teacher Terrel about her journey in dance and the new books that are here to bring the joy of movement to children.
Alanna: It’s so great to be talking with you Terrel. You and dance have been inseparable for your entire life. Can you take our readers back to the beginning of your ballet journey?
Terrel: I’ve been in everything from a dance perspective. I danced when I was younger as a pre-professional at Louisville Ballet and BalletMET. And then in high school I dropped out because I was told ballet had to be all or nothing.
Then I went to college where I choreographed and was a founding member of a dance group there, and we performed every semester. And when I went to grad school, I discovered African dance. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I taught dance at the university where I also taught English.
At some point I started teaching dance on the side. And then eventually I quit my job and was just teaching dance for a couple decades.
[Dance] just kept coming back into my life over and over again.
Alanna: What was it that first inspired you to begin teaching dance?
Terrel: I never taught little kids until after I had kids. It’s then that I became invested in learning. I had previously studied education, child development, and other related subjects. So I had that basis, and once I saw the joy that [my daughter] Ballerina K had as a little girl dancing, I knew I wanted to teach kids as well as the other classes I’d already been teaching.
Alanna: Can you tell us a little bit about your daughter, her discovery of dance, and your involvement in that journey?
Terrel: I put her in dance classes when she was pretty little. She grew up taking my classes. When she took other classes or privates, she was always willing to let me tag along with her, letting us take class together. I’d be her little shadow in the back doing class alongside her. It was just a lovely experience that she let me share with her.
Alanna: I‘m so glad that you were able to share that together. That mother-daughter partnership then continued to evolve into a whole new joint project – Once Upon a Dance. Can you take us back to the origin story of this endeavor?
Terrel: We were in Seattle at that point; she was in the professional student division at Pacific Northwest Ballet, and I was a member of the board while also teaching at another studio. But then the pandemic hit, and we were all sent home. We decided to make some little videos for kids who were also stuck at home.
Then I thought, “Let’s make a book.” I taught myself InDesign, which took a long time because that software is pretty intensive. But when I published the book, I learned that to sell one book, you need to make more books.
Years ago, as a dance teacher, stories were the favorite part of dance class. All the kids just loved them, and they’d ask me to repeat stories even if I had made a new one.
I wanted to share that [again] with kids. So we started making the Dance It Out series. They’re like little one-act plays for kids. They have a story that you can just enjoy with illustrations or use your imagination to dance and move along to. Some of them have a lot of dance, and some of them are just movement-based and great for classrooms.
There’s a wide variety from ballet to just movement and focusing on the fundamentals.
Alanna: And what age groups are these intended for?
Terrel: Dance It Out is for ages three through nine, but I have [another series of] inspiration and choreography concepts for ages eight to twelve.
Alanna: You have published quite a few books at this point.
Terrel: Yes, around 30.
Alanna: That’s amazing. What’s one of your favorites so far?
Terrel: My favorite is usually the book I’m currently working on. Right now that’s Ballerina Wisdom. It’s a whole new series of quick tips and secrets of success, which are the same for all artists. The number one secret is show up.
And the artwork in Sora Searches for a Song is just so beautiful. We also have an audiobook and a video story with sound effects. I’m really excited about that.
Alanna: Could you maybe say that all the wisdom that you have learned as a dance lover and instructor is being poured into this book as you share some of the wisdom you’ve gathered over the years?
Terrel: Yes, and it’s definitely [the wisdom of] two lifetimes worth of dance and life lessons. All that I [experienced] as a dancer and all the wisdom I’ve seen from [Ballerina K’s journey as she] let me into her space.
Alanna: Along with sharing those lessons, these books are giving back to the dance community in other ways.
Terrel: We are donating all royalties through 2030. Each book has a charity partner, and for the Dance It Out series, the partners are related to the content of the book. Ballet companies are represented, a [dance] mentorship program, and other nonprofits supporting either animals, people, the arts, or the environment.
Alanna: What do you hope your books will bring to the dance community and to those who love this art form as much as we do?
Terrel: Movement. Movement and joy. The stories encourage people to connect [with their reader], to [find their] breath and keep active. It’s a great thing to just keep moving. [So pick up a book, or go] find a dance class. Dance is a really nice way to find a community and just start learning something new.
Incorporate movement into your life and the lives of those you love today. Explore the Once Upon A Dance collection and learn more below.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
