Dancing with feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another.

A story about a wise 20 year old woman who makes her dream of a dance studio come true.

Batul, you’re about to open your own dance studio, what a great step! How did that come?

I’ve been dancing basically my whole life, that’s something I could not live without. I was 14 when I gave my first dance classes for kids, so I know what it means to be a dance teacher. I’ve always been very self confident, I like standing in front of people, explaining things and seeing how they evolve during my dance lessons. As I discovered this very early in my life it was clear to me I wanted to do this professionally. When I was 16, me and my brother, who was of legal age by then, started our first own dance business. My brother isn’t into dancing, but he supports me wherever he can, because he knows that’s what I need to do and I’m very thankful for that.

Now I’m 20, and I’m so ready to start something bigger!

I always had the plan to build a dance school and it came to me that I was going to a restaurant one day and saw a sign in the building on the opposite that said “for rent”. I called right at the next day and it turned out that this was my location. The decision to open a studio was not easy, there’s lots of responsibilities coming with it. Lots of money that needs to be spent before I can make any revenue. The studio was completely empty, we needed to build in everything, from electrics to new toilets, new floors. I’m very lucky to have so many people helping me during this process. I’m the one who’s signing all the contracts, the one who’s responsible for all the legal stuff, but it’s still not only me who’s starting the project, it’s us. My family, my friends. I’m so thankful for all the support I’m getting, even though there’s lots of people who are trying to bring me off that path I decided to go. They are saying “you’re too young”, “you can’t do that”, “you will never have enough clients” “it’s not the right time to open a dance studio”. But that’s fine. It’s their opinion, and I’m looking forward to proving them wrong.

Sounds like there’s some obstacles you are facing right now. How do you feel about that?

Oh, I’m very fine! Of course, sometimes I’m struggling because of all that pressure, especially when it comes to the financial part, but I’m very confident about our concept and I know it’s going to work. To be honest, these people who are criticising me are my smallest problem. I just don’t care about what these people think. The biggest problems are the high prices for all the materials we need to make the location a beautiful place, and the busy schedules of all the craftsmen. But I have already received requests of people who want to join the classes, I have requests for events. You must know that we’re not only building a dance studio, it will be bookable as an event location also, with a bar, a nice lounge and a professional music system. I can see that there’s interest and that makes me easily overcome those bad feelings that are coming from these big investments.

I experienced things that I couldn’t think of in earlier days.

I was sitting on a table with people from coca cola, red bull. They were giving me fridges for free, because they believed in my project. It’s so beautiful to see that these big brands are believing in a young woman like me, and it gives me the confirmation that I’m on the right track.

Wow, that sounds awesome! What exactly will you be offering in your dance studio?

Well, to answer your question on a deeper level I would say we will offer a space where people can be themselves, where they can get rid of everything that bothers them, and feel comfortable and safe. I want to create a space where they love to go. Dancing is always fun, no matter if you’re a pro or a beginner. It’s not about doing exactly the right moves to the right time, it’s about releasing your inner. Of course, professional dancers who are doing competitions have a different intention than “normal people” who just like to move to the beats, but what stands behind is the same.

To connect your body to the music and let yourself go.

I want to offer my space to all ages of people, from children to 70 year olds. Therefore I need different offers, different types of dancing. I’m very glad that I’m collaborating with two dance teachers who are offering Salsa and Bachata, so I can concentrate on Contemporary and Commercial, which is not very common in our location. For those who don’t want to learn Coreos or dance steps we’ll offer a boot camp, which will combine fitness training and dancing. I think I didn’t mention that yet, but I’m also a fitness coach, so I also like to integrate that part. As I mentioned earlier, the studio will also be bookable for events, so I think we’re having a very broad offer and everyone can find something that fits them.

That sounds like a solid strategy! Maybe some who are reading this might want to become dance teachers. I guess what is important for those is: How much can a dance teacher earn?

In Germany a dance teacher earns from 1200 to 1800 Euro a month. But I want to integrate a bit of a different system in my studio.

My dance teachers are wonderful people who have the same values as I do, and I want them to be motivated to give the best class they can give, every single time.

A dance teacher needs to inspire people, needs to spread happiness and a feeling of joy inside people. One can only do that if one is rewarded for hard work. So, my dance teachers are in charge of filling their courses, which happens organically when people are happy with the courses and tell their friends. They’ll earn more when they have fully booked classes and spread their passion.

What does a dance teacher need to bring?

Most important things are patience and empathy. It can happen that a client can’t remember the Coreo after the 100st exercise. And that’s totally fine! An impatient person will be frustrated and annoyed by that, but it’s a dance teacher’s job to explain it again and again, until everyone is happy.

I guess being patient and empathic are skills everyone should learn, because it’s the foundation to live a happy and satisfied life.

Another thing a dance teacher needs to bring is fitness, obviously. One needs to give more classes than one a day and one needs to be able to speak and dance at the same time.

Is there someone who inspires you?

Hmm, I wouldn’t call it inspiration but there’s many people who are motivating me. First my family and friends, who are so supportive in any part of my life. Another very important person in my life already passed away very early, my mother.

She’s still giving me motivation, as I’m always asking myself “would my mom be proud of me? Would she like what I’m doing?”

When I can answer this question with “yes” I know I’m on the right track. For what I’m doing right now I know my mom would love it, and that makes me pack all my energy, motivation and passion into this project. I know it’s going to be successful and that it’ll make me love my life even more than I do right now.