Meet Kim Smith | Dance Teacher & Special Needs Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, how does your business help the community?
My goal for A Chance To Dance from day one has been to inspire others to open their hearts, minds, and studio doors to the special needs community. Two of my very dear friends own The 8th Count Dance Studio in Keego Harbor, Michigan. We connected with Marli and Jenna through social media and they’ve come to visit us in NC several times. They fell in love with our dancers and have been huge supporters of the program. This summer they started a dance class for young adults with special needs and when I saw the first photos they shared my heart melted. This is how we change the world together.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think what makes what we do different is we truly include everyone regardless of their needs. When my daughter who’s on the spectrum was much younger I found that there were many programs designed for just one specific diagnosis/need but not a place where all needs were welcome.

There was a time in my life when I was really searching and trying to figure out my purpose. The most impactful lesson I’ve learned from my students is that everyone and everything has a purpose and somewhere along my journey with them I’ve found mine. So many times in life we are told no that’s not possible or you can’t do that and now I’ve made it my life’s work to create opportunities for our dancers.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being a special needs Mom, my husband and I don’t get out often but when we do our favorite dining spots are Sea Level NC in uptown Charlotte and Jekyll and Hyde in Downtown Matthews. Of course if you really wanted to do something fun and exciting, we’d invite you to our home studio, Miss Donna’s School of Dance, so that you could meet our students and dance with us at A Chance To Dance!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Easiest answer ever. We just got back from the World Dance Championship in Seacaucus, NJ. 11 of our dancers and 3 of my wonderful teachers attended. These 11 kids worked so hard for an entire year attending extra rehearsals, learning choreography, and growing so close as a team during their journey. This was the very first year Star Dance Alliance introduced a new competitive level they named “Extraordinary Ability Level”.

Our dancers did a fantastic job and it was such a cool experience for them and such a huge opportunity to dance alongside so many fantastic studios from all over the US and from other countries.

The best part is they won not one but two World Dance Championship awards and were presented an Excellence Award for one of their dances.

Website: https://achancetodancecharlotte.com

Instagram: achancetodance_clt

Facebook: @achancetodancenc

Youtube: @AChanceToDanceTheMovement

Image Credits
Marc Richard Tousignant