our Founder's Story
Dancing It Forward
By Ronda Runnels
I fell in love with dance at age three. The expression, music and joy of movement - I waited all week for that one special day to get dressed in my leotard and tights and carry my pink ballet box to class. It was magical.
In the first grade I told my parents, "I want to be a dancer and have my own dance school". They nodded and smiled. They they did what good parents do - they told me to go for it, and spent the rest of my childhood facilitating my dream to dance, teach and open a school in San Antonio.
Luckily, I didn't know then all the obstacles I'd have to overcome to pursue a life and career full of dance. I'll be the first to say I know this better than most. Regrets are not for me though, and instead, I grew from every obstacle and turned them into opportunities. I was determined to "dance it forward" to help others pursue the beauty and thrill of dance, just as I did as a child.
After pursuing my BFA in Dance at The University of Texas at Austin, at age 24, I opened my first dance studio, Turning Pointe Dance Center with my business partner, Stephanie Scott. Fast forward to 2023, I own multiple dance businesses and am pretty sure I've made my parents proud. Two of my dance businesses include Trilogy Dancer Center North and Trilogy Hill Country in Bulverde, which I co-own with my business partner and advisor, Kim Feltner.
Both schools also host dance companies. North is home to Insight Dance Ensemble (IDE), a pre-professional competitive dance company for young artists who want to pursue dance seriously. IDE has helped hundreds of dancers work with major artists such as Pink, Beyoncé, and Usher, and has also helped many attend the best college dance programs in the United States. These include Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts, Pace University's Commercial Dance Program and University of the Arts. In addition, Trilogy Hill Country hosts N Varsity Dance Company, a dance organization that empowers dancers to be on their high school dance team while dancing competitively.
In 2005, I founded Move & Groove Dance Program, which gives the children of working families a place to dance while mom and dad stay focused on their careers. The program has excelled and has more than 22 learning facilities all over the city, such as Montessori of San Antonio, St. Matthews Catholic School, Jewish Community Center, and many other stellar educational institutions.
Outside of business, my most significant honor is mentoring young artists. I learned early on that it is not the dance lessons I teach best but the life lessons. While only about 2% of dancers who major in dance end up dancing professionally, the lessons I teach on the dance floor are transferable to any career. The simple things, like showing up early, being prepared, presenting your best self every day, and holding yourself accountable, are just a few of the lessons that come with all the turns and jumps. My challenges have made me a stronger human and I want to dance it forward and help make every dancer an amazing human. Each dancer I teach is a life investment for me, it does not matter if they continue to dance after high school. I often say, "I don't give up on dancers" - if they show up I put 100% into making them the best expression of themselves.
I take great pride in seeing my former students come back to my studio. Many of these individuals started dancing as early as the age of three. And even after many years have passed, I love that they care about each other and continue to return to share their journeys and life lessons with others. Most of the faculty of both schools are past company members of my competitive companies. No matter where my students end up, the common theme is that they all love to dance. That is the real beauty of dance, it creates lifelong relationships. The love of movement goes wherever life takes them. I express to dance parents that the journey (the training, the relationships, the experiences, the tears, the laughter) is what matters, not the destination. The titles and awards are a bonus.
My daughter, Kennady, was raised in my dance program and I wouldn't change it for the world. She is now a senior at Pace University in New York getting her BFA in the Commercial Dance Program. Her journey at Pace hasn't always been easy, however, her life skills learned by growing up in Insight Dance Ensemble taught her to be strong and fearless. Kennady is proof that if you put in the work and have the opportunities to train with great teachers, you can make your dreams come true. It is challenging to do all that it takes to raise a professional dancer; not every family has financial resources to take their dancer to New York, Los Angeles, dance conventions, competitions and dance intensives.
The most challenging part of competitive dance (outside of the bruises and muscle aches) is this field's financial demands to dance seriously. The expenses of dance grow yearly through more conventions, competitions, summer intensives, events, and costumes. The average annual bill for each dancer easily surpasses $20,000 a year. I have always offered scholarships through my school dance programs, as I was lucky enough to receive financial assistance while I was growing up. I have never wanted to turn a hard-working dancer away, especially if money was the obstacle getting in the way of their dream. I had great studio owners who gave me scholarships to help me and my family my entire training career, and if it had not been for them I would never have been able to dance. I knew when I was a teenager that I wanted to give back to the arts and gift the privilege to train as a serious dancer to others in need. I never took my journey for granted.
The Pandemic added even more complexities to the world of dance and being a studio owner. As our dance studios temporarily closed, and many did not reopen, I realized I had to be more creative to keep both locations open. I had the weight of supporting 30 faculty members and keeping 500 dance families dancing. It was the most challenging experience of my career, but i was not going to give up.
I had never been so challenged. However, it gave me time to think and explore how best to ensure even more artists could get the tools, training, and financial assistance they needed to dance. I felt desperate to ensure dance would go on . . . so I created a plan. And that is how Human | Artist | Dancer (HAD) was born.
HAD is a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 by a Board of eager performing arts enthusiasts focused on serving and supporting local young dancers. All of us believe in the power of dancing it forward. HAD aims to raise funds for local young artists and then use those dollars to offer education, training, and scholarships to motivated dancers, ages 14-18 years old.
HAD's mission is to create a professional development program for the finalists who will be hand-picked from a panel of professional judges in San Antonio. These dancers will receive all the tools, training, support, education, and resources necessary to become elite artists. The selected finalists will then compete for three top scholarships awarded at the end of the development period. The largest scholarship starts at $5,000. In addition, these dancers will get to train with the best in the industry, work with other professionals, including doctors and nutritionists, and further their training.
In the past two years, HAD has given over $24,000 in scholarships to local artists. The Elevation Scholarships are awarded in June of each year at a formal gala where the dancers perform live for the judges panel and from that performance the judges pick the winners. These amazing artists have used the funding to continue their dance training in New York and Los Angeles, to travel for auditions and most importantly, for college tuition. HAD has three students today in dance programs all over the United States.
A community with a common goal is needed to bring the performing arts back and fuel the future for dancers even more than before. I feel that this is the mission of HAD, to bring the community together and give back to the arts. I have watched my 21-year old daughter attend Pace and it has motivated me to ensure other dancers have the same opportunities as my child. I have been fortunate to build great relationships with other dance studios like Heather Stolle's School of Dance, Dorothy's Dance Studio, San Antonio Ballet School, Sarita's Dance Studio, Cibolo City Ballet, N.B. Dance & Company and Earl Cobb Dance Studio who have supported HAD by allowing their dancers to participate in the scholarship program.
Nothing is certain, and especially now in the vulnerable world we wake up to every day, we can not take the performing arts for granted. No magic wand makes dreams come true. I put in blood, sweat and tears to turn obstacles into opportunities and now it's my turn to dance it forward. I hope my children Connor, Kennady and Zane have learned from my example of hard work and commitment to following your dreams, and never being afraid to take risks. They are beautiful examples to me every day to be a better human. Thank you to my husband, Heith Root, for supporting me in my crazy life filled with love and adventures. Who knows what is next? I can't wait to see! Today I feel blessed to have the HAD Board of Directors by my side and the San Antonio dance community's support. Together we can continue to make dance dreams come true. One day at a time. One dollar at a time. One Human | Artist | Dancer at a time.