Dance Teacher Jackie Lewis joined Westridge in fall 2025, bringing a diverse background in dance, classroom teaching, and global studies, most recently serving as dance team program head at Polytechnic School. She also has experience teaching ballet, modern, and West African dance for kids ages 7-16 at The Carroll School of Dance in Baltimore, Maryland. Beyond dance, she also taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade.

We sat down with Jackie to reflect on her first year at Westridge so far and hear her perspective on teaching girls.

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What is your personal background with dance and the arts?

I consider myself an overall creative; I dance, I choreograph, I make music, and I creative direct. My passion project right now is an event company that puts on community-based, immersive art shows all over the country. I mostly train in Afro styles—Azonto from Ghana, Amapiano from South Africa, AfroHouse from Angola, and more—which led me to co-found the Zodwa dance company. Zodwa means “all girls,” so the company is entirely Black women and we put on community events for women who don’t always have the time or space to dance.

What teaching philosophy guides your work at Westridge?

My main teaching philosophy is that it’s important to start by helping students build confidence. A lot of girls walk into the studio a little shy, reserved, or introverted—looking at yourself in the mirror as a girl can scare you, moving your body can scare you. So I just focus on reinforcing that you don’t have to be perfect, this is a safe space and dance doesn’t need to be ‘right’ the first time.

At the beginning of the year, I asked my Middle School dancers to give themselves a cute face in the mirror and I heard them say “I’m ugly” and “I don’t want to look at myself.” So we all stood in front of the mirror, looked ourselves in the eye, and said “I am beautiful” until they could all do it. It can be frightening sometimes, but that’s what dance has brought me. I walk into spaces as a confident person and it’s rooted in things like good posture and performance energy, so I try to instill that in our students. 

Coming from a co-ed background, has anything surprised you about working at a girls’ school?

I went to an Historically Black College and University (HBCU), and I compare the two a lot. There’s a stigma around HBCUs that they’re not like the real world, and girls’ schools have the same misconception. But I know from going to a school like that, that it’s just a deeper level of community. 

I hear from the girls that they focus better, they’re able to support each other, and they’re able to be themselves 100%. This is their school, their space. I love seeing the support and joy here… I mean, what other spaces can you see girls have free reign?

You’ve been working with students in all divisions—how do you see dance as it connects to the academic trajectory students have at Westridge?

In Lower School we focus on moving their bodies and releasing some of their energy. I’ve been going to the 4th grade to help with “brain breaks” and teaching dances in their PE rotation. In Middle School they’re trying something new and coming into their sense of self. It’s an opportunity to see themselves struggle and grow in a different light than in a classroom. Then in Upper School they work on the story that connects choreographic elements and musicality together to create art. They’re in community with each other and focusing on the thinking behind the dance.

Tell us about The Dance Collective, your new after school dance groups for Lower and Middle School.

It started with some 7th grade students asking to make a dance club, and I thought “okay, why not?” A lot of the girls want to dance but don’t have that training yet, so we work on their technique and having fun performing. Now there is a Lower School collective, too, and I love the energy the girls bring—the 4th through 6th graders want to do anything that gets them involved and they have no fear!

Pictured right: Lower School Dance Collective performing during a spirit assembly!

What inspires your choice of music and dance styles?

Some girls come with traditional training, like ballet, so they’re not used to moving their bodies in a jazzy, funky way. I like getting them into feeling different rhythmic patterns. I think it’s good to expose them to sounds they’ve never heard before, whether that’s oldies or Afrobeats. 

I explore a lot of different dance styles outside of school, which is fun because I get to balance my personal passions while still sharing the fundamentals that got me there.

How do you hope to see the dance program grow?

I’ve never choreographed a full musical before, so Freaky Friday (our upcoming Upper School spring musical) is my first time, and it’s going really well. The girls are really talented actors and singers, and I see an opportunity for collaboration between dance and the theatre program to integrate more actors into my classes. 

I’d also love to work with the girls to create a piece for the Dance Concert that bridges their work ethic and choreography to paint a picture of what Westridge is—that we have dancers at a very high level and dancers who are learning the foundations. I look forward to seeing different iterations of dancing solo and dancing together, and also the opportunity for students to choreograph themselves.