Danielle Brabston

How the Right Tools Help Teachers Deliver Engaging Preschool Classes

At Briarwood Ballet in Birmingham, Alabama, teacher Danielle Brabston leads classes for dancers ages three to eight. While she is not a studio owner herself, her experience highlights something many studio owners are looking for: teachers who feel confident, prepared, and able to keep young students engaged from the moment class begins.

“I think it’s really important with that age group to use imagination as much as you can in the classroom, that really seems to help inspire them. It keeps them engaged, and they just come alive with that.”

Danielle regularly uses props, printables, and storytelling to bring movement concepts to life. She’s found that imaginative framing often determines whether young dancers stay focused or disengage.

“When I teach them a certain technique, like plié, if I take away the imaginative part, I just lose them. But when you add in imagination, like imagining you’re in an elevator and you're going down, they immediately connect with that, they love that.”

Supporting Teachers Who Are New to Preschool Dance

Danielle came to Briarwood Ballet after time away from dance while raising her children. With a background as an elementary school teacher and a Master of Arts in Teaching, she understood how to work with children, but still needed guidance on how to teach ballet in a developmentally appropriate way.

“Being a classroom teacher, there’s just so much pressure with standardized testing and meeting benchmarks… I guess all of that is gone, and it’s more just a creative expression, and just joy with the kids… it’s really fun, so I’ve enjoyed being able to be a teacher in this way.”

As a new ballet teacher, she found that having a structured curriculum and training resources helped her quickly build confidence and clarity in her teaching.

“I enjoy watching Ashley and seeing how she introduces technique to her students. It gives me good ideas in terms of how to explain it and introduce a new concept… it has been really helpful for me to have those resources.”

The certification course also helped her understand how to introduce concepts in a way that matches students’ developmental stages. This is something that can be difficult for new teachers to navigate on their own.

Tools That Capture Student Attention

One of the elements Danielle appreciates most about the program is the visual and imaginative materials that support her lessons.

“For that age group… it’s adorable, and they absolutely love it. You've done a great job making the bug… really cute and attractive for kids… I'll take the time to print them… because they are high quality and really capture the student's attention. I know I’ll use them, and it connects well with the age group that I’m teaching.”

She uses the materials to encourage creative movement, inviting students to choose animals from the printables and “transform” into them as they move around the room. Danielle says this approach noticeably changed how her students participated in class.

“Before I was just using props, like jumping on rubber dots across the floor.”

But when she introduced the printables and imaginative prompts, she noticed a clear difference in how children responded.

“It definitely adds a level of excitement and imagination and enthusiasm… the biggest change I’ve seen is in their level of engagement and excitement.”

Why Engagement Matters for Studio Programs

For studio owners, Danielle’s experience shows how the teacher support tools in the Little Dancer Program can directly affect the classroom experience families see. When teachers feel prepared and have engaging materials to use, classes run more smoothly, students stay interested, and parents see their children enjoying the program.

Danielle’s advice to new preschool dance teachers reflects what has made the biggest difference in her own classes:

“The most important thing for me to keep them engaged is definitely imagination. Any way that you can bring in ideas like, ‘We’re going to travel through the forest and hop over these mushrooms. And we might see a bunny.’ I try to build my whole class around imagination and helping them to use that powerful tool to engage in what we are learning.”

Her experience demonstrates that when teachers have the right guidance and resources, they can create classes that feel lively, purposeful, and memorable—something every studio owner wants for their youngest dancers.