Earth Dancer School
Miss Stephanie's
Dance And Nature Centered Education
& the Free Spirits Dance Company
Our Director
"As enduring as the skills we learn, are the memories we make, and the friends we hold dear." ~Miss Stephanie
DANCE EDUCATION
At age four, Stephanie Scherr, "Miss Stephanie", received her first dance training in Brooklyn, NY from a New York City Rockette. As a child, she studied at the Les Petites Dance Academy and was a soloist with the Monmouth Arts Ballet Company under the direction of Linda Leshine. She received RAD training at the Shore Ballet School and danced with the Shore Ballet Company under the direction of Sally Topham. She studied ballet, pointe, and pas de deux at the Joffrey Ballet School with dancer, instructor, and author, Dorothy Lister and other instructors.
In college, she studied dance and choreography, performed, and received training in dance education at Brookdale College with Lori DeShaw, the College of New Jersey, and Franklin Pierce University. She has taken master classes with Charles Kelley and Edward Villela.
She began teaching dance in 1990 as the competition level ballet instructor at Danceworks of Sayreville, NJ with Maureen Dicker, bringing her students silver and gold medals at east coast dance competitions. She became the Director of Dance for the Red Bank, NJ YMCA before moving to the Monadnock area to attend college and graduate school.
In 1996, she opened Jaffrey-Rindge Danceworks in Jaffrey & Rindge, what is today, the Earth Dancer School. Community performances were well received and in 1997, the Free Spirits Dance Company began offering year-round performances for community organizations and events.
EXPERIENCE
Miss Stephanie was a full time dance teacher at the B.F. Brown Arts Vision School of Performing Arts, Fitchburg, MA.
B.F. Brown is a focus school with the Lincoln Center Institute, a division of Lincoln Center in New York City that trains, directs, and guides the B.F. Brown School and other performing arts schools and their instructors.
PROFESSIONAL DEGREED EDUCATOR
Miss Stephanie has degrees in English, Environmental Science, and Biology, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England, and is a certified science teacher. She has taught at Environmental Science and issues at the college and high school level as well as at environmental and Girl Scout camps. She also offers outdoor opportunities to students through the Eco Scouts.
With a background in how the human body works, Miss Stephanie is able to explain to students how physics and motion affect the body and how they can improve balance and turning by improving the placement of weight and positioning of the body.
COMMUNITY
Service to the community is an important part of our Free Spirits Dance Company philosophy. In addition to organizing community dance performances, Miss Stephanie works an environmental advocate in the Mondnock Region through the organization
ECHO Action and is on the Boards of NH Spirit and 350NH.
From Miss Stephanie...
Hello and welcome to the Earth Dancer
School. For me, dance is a fabulous synergy
of motion and art. As a dance and science
teacher, I know that whether or not you
understand the methodologies and traditions
of dance, or the physics and mathematics behind motion, you know that dance requires strength and skill to achieve the appearance of effortlessness. Combine this with the fleeting moments of flight, the perfect equilibrium of balance, inventive movement, dramatic lighting, and music that stirs the soul, and you will understand why I love dance! When all this is achieved, the results are ineffable.
Some students dance for fun, some dance to challenge themselves or increase their skill at other sports like gymnastics or skating, and some have a deep love of dancing that drives them. It is my hope that my students will dance with great joy. There are two things in life everyone should be able to do comfortably...dance and swim! There’s nothing worse than standing around at a wedding or sitting on a beach blanket and watching others have fun because of your fear.
Dancing increases confidence, poise, strength, flexibility, musicality, friendships, and is a wonderful release from our hectic lives. One of my favorite quotes, one I try to live by, is from legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, “I try not to dance better than anyone else. I try to dance better than myself.”
When we motivate ourselves and others to do our best, we are often amazed at how far our determination will take us. Each year at our recital I am overcome by the excitement and joy I see in the eyes of my students and the surprise and delight they have in their own accomplishments. It is my honor to watch my students grow and achieve beyond their expectations. Who could ask for more in seeing a year’s work realized?
