This is my journalism capstone project on Amanda Whites, the owner and main dance teacher at the Kentucky Dance Academy in Frankfort, Kentucky. Amanda teaches ballet, tap, hip-hop, and more to children of all ages at her studio. What sets her apart from most is her inclusion of children with special needs; she holds a class once a week for children with cerebral palsy, autism and other things that may keep them from being involved in certain extracurricular activities.
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Print Story: Amanda Whites brightens children’s futures
Children walk along the sidewalk of Wapping Street with their dance bags in hand and up the stairs into the nurturing and encouraging studio: Kentucky Dance Academy (KDA).
Amanda Whites’ pen rattles as she writes out her class schedules because of the large, sparkly, streamer-like thing attached to the end of it.
She puts it down quickly as students enter the studio, so she can greet each of them with a smile and a ‘how are you’?
She’s normally at the studio several hours before class starts; if you can't find her at her desk, you may find her sitting in a swivel chair in the corner of one of the many white, mirror-filled rooms throughout the building with a costume in one hand and a threaded needle in the other.
Whites, 33, is the owner and main teacher of the KDA in Frankfort, Kentucky, a dance studio unlike any other.
Whites said she has been teaching dance full-time for about ten years.
“I started assisting in classes when I was like 11 or 12 to help pay for my classes, and then kept doing that through high school and subbing as needed, and then started teaching like my own classes when I was about 20,” she said.
Whites danced professionally in Nashville, and other big cities, until she had an injury, and then started to switch into more of the teaching aspect.
She has danced and taught at several different studios. She said she remembers her parents thinking dance would just be a phase she outgrew, but it’s now her life.
Her enthusiasm can be seen through the bright smile, laugh and wide eyes she has every day she’s doing what she loves – teaching children to dance.
Around 50 children funnel in and out of the dance rooms throughout a regular week day at the academy, learning ballet, tap, hip-hop and more.
“It’s the best job in the world, so that’s why I picked it,” is Whites sole explanation as to why she does what she does.
Whites decided to open her own dance studio in 2018, because she wanted to have the control to educate dancers and artists in the way she thought was best – “in a really compassionate environment, and in an environment that allowed them to be their true self,” she said.
Toddlers, teens and special needs students of all ages attend her classes to enjoy themselves and gain a sense of confidence.
What sets Whites apart from many other dance studios is the special needs dance class she holds every Wednesday.
“I really enjoy my special needs dance class because so many of those kids are autism spectrum or cerebral palsy, or they have something else that prevents them from engaging in like the typical after school stuff,” she said.
After talking with the families of children in that class, Whites said she feels many of them have been shut out of extracurriculars because the people running those programs may not feel qualified to work with children who have special needs, or they may find it too much of a hassle.
“I think a lot of times that this class is one of their only outlets other than school, which is important, everybody deserves to like have a thing that’s special for them after school,” she said.
The children in those classes also perform on stage at recitals with her other classes, and she feels that gives them the opportunity to be the center of attention and shows others they are more capable than people may expect.
She said this also gives their families the chance to be a “normal” family and watch a performance with their child in it.
Whites said without that class she would miss out on a lot of joy and fun.
“It's fun to watch them progress cause it's such a different trajectory then other classes,” she said. “I’d miss out on like getting to know these amazing people, and kids that I wouldn't know otherwise.”
Ian Hinton, an 11-year-old student in the special needs class, said “I really like that it’s like a big family.”
Ian’s dad, Mark, said he’s been taking classes at KDA since 2018, when the studio first opened.
“He’s got cerebral palsy, so it's really good for him, for his physical therapy, and that's one of the reasons why we signed him up for dance,” he said.
Mark said Ian also plays in baseball and basketball leagues, is involved in boy scouts and does some acting.
Ian said he’s been in fourteen movies, but his dad jokingly said he’s not sure if he’s been in quite that many.
“She taught my older sister, so that is how I found out about her,” Ian said about Whites.
Mark said Whites is great, “like he said, my older daughter danced with Mrs. Amanda at a different studio for quite a while, I mean I think it was pretty much from her middle school years to her senior year in high school, so when Amanda opened this studio, we found out she was having a special needs class, we just, we jumped on that, and got Ian in that and he’s enjoyed it,” he said.
Ian excitedly agreed with his dad.
Whites said she really enjoys working with children, and she’s never really felt the need to do anything else.
She works extremely hard to ensure all of the children in her studio have a space in which they feel welcome and comfortable.
Tiffany Blair, a parent with four children currently attending classes at Whites studio, said she and her children started taking classes with Whites when she was teaching at Frankfort School of Ballet.
They decided to move with her when she opened the KDA, and have now been with her for about 9 years.
Blair said she’s watched Whites grow as an administrator, and admires how she always talks to children on their level, whether it’s her younger children or teen classes.
She said despite how much Whites’ studio has grown, “she’s still engaged with each student, it’s very one-on-one.”
Derrick Sumerel, another parent with several children attending Whites’ dance classes, said she does an exceptional job at teaching them.
“She breaks it down to the appropriate ages where they can do it and feel like they’re a part of it,” Sumerel said.
He said his wife found the studio on Facebook, and they now have their three children – Olivia, 10, Henry, 9 and Spencer, 3, taking dance classes.
Sumerel attended a class with one of his boys, where the parents were invited to come in and dance with their children; he said he enjoyed being goofy and fun in that class.
He said all of his children have really enjoyed being in the recitals that Whites puts on each year.
Whites has watched several of the children at her studio, not only grow as dancers, but physically grow up.
“Some of the highlights have been just getting to see the kids grow and kind of see their progress and see them like carry over some habits they had when they were itty bitty until they're big, but then also seeing them just totally change and shift into the person they're going to be,” Whites said.
Parker Russak, 13, said she takes contemporary, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, acro and theater classes at Whites’ studio.
She said she also started dancing with Whites when she was at Frankfort School of Ballet, and transferred over to her new studio when she opened it.
She has been dancing with Whites for about six years now, and said she has become a better dancer because of it.
Russak said she has also grown socially. She said she remembers coming into the studio super shy and quiet, but now feels it’s a lot easier for her to express herself.
She said Whites is somewhat to accredit for that, because she is someone she feels she can talk to.
“She’s very understanding, and she’s really willing to help her students and everything, and I think that's really good, especially from her dance background that helps us a lot too,” Russak said.
Caroline Combs, 30, is a dance teacher at the KDA, and has also been there since Whites opened her studio in 2018.
Combs said her mom was a dance teacher, and she’s been dancing for as long as she can remember.
She went to the University of Kentucky and minored in dance, then continued to dance after she got out of school, which is when she met Whites.
They were both at a studio called Movement Continuum, around 2016; she said she followed Whites to her new studio, and has been teaching alongside her for several years now.
Combs teaches tap classes at the KDA, and said “it’s just a fun place to be and a good happy environment.”
She said all of the children at the academy are very sweet and excited to be there, which she feels kind of emulates Whites and her personality.
“I love Amanda, she built such an awesome community and family within the studio,” Combs said.
She said Whites is very understanding and fair in everything she does. Whites has a way of always knowing what to say and is very patient with parents as well, she said.
Along with many at the KDA, Combs said she truly believes in everything Whites is doing at her studio, and believes she is a great person.
Whites thinks about her children in everything she does at the KDA, and dedicates ample time to making sure they have a fun, compassionate and inclusive environment to grow up in.
She takes pride in her work and everything she has made possible for many of the children in Frankfort.
“I hope that all of my kids – if they've taken one class or like a hundred, thousand classes – I hope that they remember it fondly,” Whites said. “I hope that it's a highlight of their childhood or their teenagerdum or whatever, and I also hope that regardless of if they dance past like high school or middle school or elementary school or whatever – I hope that they take some of the skills they learned in class into whatever they choose to do next.”
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