Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dan Lai. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Dan, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I am a dancer teacher and choreographer in NYC. There really is no guide or formal training (unless you go the college route) in becoming a dance teacher so a lot of how I learned was observation along with trial and error. I based a lot of how I teach on the teachers that I looked up to when I was taking dance classes. I think patience, leadership and communication are fundamental skills in being a teacher.
The opportunity to teach classes and to be taken seriously was one of the hardest obstacles. You feel like you have the talent and skills but dance studio owners make think otherwise. A lot of this industry is also having a “name” or “clout.” That helps you to open doors more quickly. I didn’t have either of those which just made the journey harder.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a dancer teacher and choreographer in NYC. I loved dance as a kid but never took it seriously. I would learn dances from music videos for fun, but never thought it would be a profession. The first dance class I took was when I was either 19 or 20 and again it was purely for fun. I thought to myself that it would be my form of cardio for the week. The exhilaration I felt taking that first class made me want to take more. 6 months into taking dance classes for fun. Cut to I’ve been now dancing for 14 years and teach packed out classes in NYC.
I think what I am most proud of is just seeing the consistent students I have improve week over week. The ones you’ve been taking me for years and the growth in their dancing really makes me proud. It makes me feel good that I am a little part of their dance journey to help them improve and grow.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Teaching in NYC is very gatekept (more so in the past then now). When I was trying to become a teacher, I’ve gotten so many No’s. I would email studios and they would ignore them. I would email them a few months later and they would still ignore me. For me, I had so much drive but always felt like I was stuck in a traffic jam. It’s like I had all this determination but I didn’t know where to put it. So the rejections just fueled me to hone my craft even more. I eventually submitted to a dance showcase that’s open to any and all choreographers. I got accepted and was able to showcase my choreography. That show pretty much changed the trajectory of my teaching career. My piece was so well received that I started to get recognized in a small part of the New York dance scene. It led to a studio owner reaching out to me and offering me first class.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I think growing up in an Asian household, we’re taught to be more reserved and I think that’s what held me back a lot of times (and still do to some degree today). I always tend to play things safe and it took me a long time to branch out and open myself up.
Men dancing in heels is more common today than it was just a few years ago. I never dared to dance in heels pre-covid days. I was fully teaching contemporary jazz classes and heels wasn’t something I thought I would ever teach. There is also internalized homophobia on my end that I think a lot of men have that’s not really talked about. I respected the men who were already out there dancing in them, but I personally would never do it myself was how I looked at it. I didn’t realized it was really the fear of others judging me for dancing in women’s footwear. Pandemic caused a shift in society and really opened up my mind to really try new things. It was during the pandemic that I started wearing high heels and practice walking around my apartment. From there, once I got a better grasp of how to properly walk in them, I would have my friends who were heels teachers, send me their choreography to learn. So a lot of my pandemic was training to dance in heels. It also helped that I came from a contemporary background so being on my toes in high heels wasn’t as crazy of a challenge for me than I thought it would be. After I started getting more and more comfortable, I decided to hold my first heels class once restrictions were lifted, and the feedback I got was overwhelmingly positive. It was there when I realized this is my new path in dance and started to build my brand as a heels teacher.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/dancelai
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dancelai
Image Credits
Christine Yoo
Michelle Ye