When Greeley West sophomore Meah Villarreal joined the Poms team, it eliminated her ability to dance for her studio. Little did she know, that would reslut in her teaching her own dance classes.
The studio where Villarreal grew up was dancing now teaches at is Northern Colorado Dance Fusion. Her class is small and she teaches a wide variety of kids ages ranging from six to eleven years old. “Because they are all in one class, it’s hard to teach because I have to make sure they are all on the same level of understanding,” Villarreal expressed.
Villarreal reveals that she enjoys teaching and believes that this has opened up many doors for her. “It’s pretty fun, a really good way to learn leadership, and also a good experience,” Villarreal said.
Her inspiration for teaching was her role model and teacher, Carissa Barros. “Few people have asked me what inspired me to teach kids, and I think it’s because of my old teacher I used to have, and also because I get to help kids gain a passion for dancing.” Villareal expressed.
Her old studio reached out to her and offered an opportunity to teach younger kids how to dance. She started up last January and teaches on Monday nights after Poms practice. “They reached out and asked if I wanted to teach there at the studio, and I said yes,” Villarreal said.
Villarreal began dancing at the age of two. It wasn’t love of dancing that got her into dance, rather it was parental convenience. “My dad just wanted to enroll me because my mom was on a trip. And also just to get me started in the world,” Villarreal said.
She reveals that the studio was filled with good people who were always positive. It was also drama-free. In her eighth year of dancing, she faced a setback that prevented her from dancing for six months. “I broke my left foot during my eight-year dancing. I was like ten or eleven. I was out for six months.” Villarreal said.
Although this impacted her greatly, she didn’t let this stop her passion for dancing, and rather, it grew more and more as she grew. “As I got older, my passion for dance grew despite the drawbacks,” Villarreal said.
