Saffy's Story
Hi, my name is Martha, and I’m another friend of the maker of this sight Timestep, who asked me to write a biography about myself, sounds pretty boring to me but, would I turn a nice bloke like Time down? No!
Well, I live in New Zealand, I am 20 years old and I own a School of Dance that I started four years ago. I have one of the largest schools in my town with 140 students all under ten years. I love teaching because of some of the surprises you get when ever you turn your back. I started teaching when I was sixteen after spending two years at the full time training school (The National Ballet School) My teacher was un-able to support my teaching as she felt I was now “opposition” so I ventured out on my own. I had five students for the first 6 months and soon realised that I would need more than this if I was ever to make a living, so I started in a new bigger area (thus having two areas now) and had 30 students by the end of the first year. All of which were 3,4 and 5. We entered into a Festival of ballet where my mushrooms let the side down and wouldn’t leave the stage, various mishaps like not knowing I had to have a lighting practice with the guy before the day, and loosing the music for a good hour, finding it about two minutes before our entrance, all lead to us not being invited back the following year…(apparently we lacked stage experience!) but that is another story! Deeply offended (which is my main mood) I decided that the following year we would rent a full theatre for our production, by this time I also had modern dance students, and 120 pupils. This went off with a bang and really made the school a school! During this second year I also entered 40 students in exams, with excellent results and lots of stress for me! The third year was pretty much a follow on, I closed the role and stuck with 120, I was now turning down students left right and centre, and not earning a penny! Now it is my fourth year, last year the exams were awful, the examiner was the nastiest thing I ever met, telling 5 year olds they looked too nervois, failing Children for being that way, generally causing havock. That was the biggest blow in my entire carreer, I was mortally wounded, felt like giving up (as I do nearly every week) and was very very depressed. Then the bill for the power at the theatre that year came and $800 later I was devastated. I then had six weeks of holiday over Christmas when I thought…”I won’t get mad I’ll get even” (as I do quite frequently) SO This year with 140 students, many of whom come twice a week, a huge supply of costumes and a change of syllabus I am a new Woman (and I’m learning the bagpipes too!) I now have an income for the first time ever in my time as a teacher, and I am SO proud of it, it is a tiny amount, but I earnt it! I am now saving hard for a trip to the USA at the end of the year where I have many internet friends who I have been dying to meet. I am a moderator on danceart now, which I am also very proud of where I have got many supportive people who I love to bits and who have helped me endlessly! I can’t tell you how I knew to persist with a risky business venture like this, but I can tell you this, I was thinking on it the other day and worked out, I have ignored every bit of advise anyone ever gave me until this year, and THAT my friends is how I got to where I am!
I thought instead of boring you too much more I would tell you some of the cool things that happen to you when you become a dance teacher. Here are but a few of my embarrassing moments…
“Miss Martha, My Mummy doesn’t love my Daddy anymore, she Loves Tommy”
“Miss Martha, last week my Mummy discovered I have…head lice :o)”
“Miss Martha, why are you wearing Pink, is it to attract a boyfriend?”
“Why are you wearing lipstick, are you being a grown up?” (The pictures below are of Saffy and some of her students.)
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