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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". Fast forward and 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. And now, I own multiple dance businesses and am pretty sure I've made my parents proud.
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 Chapman University, 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.
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.
During the pandemic, the pause 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.
Since our first gala, HAD has given over $50,000 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 five students today in dance programs all over the United States, and three graduates who are now building their dance careers
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 and we 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.
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.