Today we’d like to introduce you to Cammie O’Hara.
Hi Cammie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began dancing at the age of three and continued dancing through college. I taught my first dance class at the age of 16 at a local recreation center in Dallas and found a passion for choreographing and teaching, along with performing. This new-found passion turned into a beautiful journey and ultimately a career. I taught at numerous preschools, recreation centers, and dance studios until one day in 2001, I founded my own dance company in Louisville, KY. After moving back to Texas a few years later, I opened a dance studio where my philosophy was one of inclusion while maintaining strong technical training, I taught students age 3 – 55 and created specialized programs for male students, homeschooled students, and women that may or may not have ever enjoyed any prior dance experience. My goal was to encourage and empower anyone that wanted to dance to find their inner dancer. I later became a private school dance program start-up and turn-around specialist in the Austin area. I took struggling programs and built multi-disciplined programs, infused them with fun and confidence-building techniques and made them available to all genders and skill levels. In addition, I created dance programs and dance teams for schools that were lacking that particular artistic discipline.
I thought that this would continue to be my path, but life is filled with twists and turns and that path often changes. Over the past several years, I have enjoyed a career outside of the dance industry; however, there remained a hole in my heart that needed to be filled. I was always an advocate for inclusion and tried to make dance available to as many people as possible, but the dream and goal of mine to work with individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities had yet to come to fruition. My children have known about this dream/goal for quite some time and in the fall of 2020 they encouraged me to take a leap of faith and start a program specifically for the IDD community. My daughter, Taylor, said that she also believed in this mission and wanted to be a part of something so important. Together, Taylor and I started The Dance Pointe with the goal of making it a safe place for dancers to learn, grow, and express themselves through the art of dance.
The Dance Pointe held its first complimentary class on February 14, 2021….the same day as the Houston ice storm. Four dancers took a chance on us and on the weather and that point the dream became a reality. Since then, The Dance Pointe has continued to embrace dancers age 10+ (we currently have dancers age 13 – 32) with IDD. Our dancers learn ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and jazz at Allegro Academy of Dance on Sunday afternoons. Since inclusion is such a huge part of our mission, it was important to Taylor and I that the dancers experience a studio setting with mirrors and barres and learn genuine technique in a structured setting. While our curriculum is in line with the curriculum found at any other dance studio, we take a kind, empathetic, adaptive, fun-loving, and often comedic approach to instill joy and confidence in our dancers.
Since beginning a little over a year ago with 4 students, we have met and danced with over 50 dancers and have founded the EmPOWER Dance Team. EmPOWER is a performance group currently made up of 9 dancers that have performed for National Dance Day, the DSAH Buddy Walk, the Sugar Land Town Square Holiday Showcase, a MDDTTexas-Dance Surge competition, and under the bright lights of The Hobby Center for the Allegro Academy of Dance spring recital. The dancers are proving to the world that they not only deserve the same opportunities as everyone else, but that they are willing to work hard to show that they are capable of greatness.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been fairly smooth; however, it has not been without a few struggles. The first struggle was to find a dance studio that would work with me on pricing. We keep our tuition low, because we know that our dancers often need physical, speech, and occupational therapy that leave less in the family budget for additional programming. Vanessa Brown, owner of Allegro Dance Academy, loved our mission and has provided a beautiful space for us a discounted price.
Another struggle has been getting the word out about our program or making it available to dancers across Houston. We would love to reach more individuals with IDD and it would be amazing to grow into other areas of Houston so that we can make dance accessible to more dancers.
The third struggle has been realizing that while we want everyone to dance, some individuals have particular limitations that preclude them from dancing. This was such a devastating lesson for us, but with reflection we have gained understanding and insight that we all have limitations and we also all have gifts. Not everyone’s gift is to dance, but their light shines in other ways.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am most proud of how The Dance Pointe is a family affair. My daughter and I are the owners and my son has been a volunteer and friend to many of the dancers over the past 14 months. In addition, we extend the same love and respect to our dancers and their parents as we do our own family members. While the dancers share a strong bond, their parents have become great friends and supporters of one another.
At The Dance Pointe, we celebrate everyone’s endeavors and successes from one dancer being crowned prom king, to another dancer earning a job at a local bakery, to buying a dancer’s homemade salsa and another’s handmade bracelets, to attending a dancer’s art gallery show. Our little dance program is more than just dance classes and performances. We are truly a family.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Sari Anna Thomas at Down for Dance our of California. I saw her dancers on YouTube and reached out to her 2 years ago to find out how to begin a program for individuals with IDD. Not only did she share her insight and best practices, she shared her passion and encouraged me to go for it. That a little love and kindness goes a long way.
The dance parents for their trust, love, and support.
Vanessa Brown at Allegro Academy of Dance for believing in me and our program and allowing us to have the freedom to express ourselves within her studio and among her beautifully classically trained ballerinas.
The Tuttle School for helping us promote our program, sharing some of their students with us, and allowing us to come in and teach classes during their summer camp.
Kat Doveno at Down Syndrome Association of Houston. She too has promoted our program, has allowed EmPOWER Dance Team to perform at the Buddy Walk, and has asked us to share our passion for dance with her members during their summer camp.
Taylor and Connor O’Hara for being the biggest fans and supporters of this program. They have given of their time, creativity, and hearts to make this a success.
Pricing:
- 10 week sessions $130
Contact Info:
- Email: thedancepointetx@gmail.com
- Website: www.thedancepointetx.com
- Instagram: thedancepointetx
- Facebook: thedancepointetx
Image Credits
Cammie O’Hara
Taylor O’Hara
