Where Reading and Dancing Meet
Terrel Lefferts on Once Upon a Dance
By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor
For many young students, dance education consists of verbal instruction and demonstration from a teacher. While that has proven to be an effective means of teaching, having alternative methods, such as using visual aids and storytelling, can immensely benefit students. Thus, Terrel Lefferts and her daughter Kaelyn or “Ballerina Konora” have created Once Upon a Dance, a business that creates interactive movement and dance books for children of a wide array of ages.
Growing up, Terrel trained pre-professionally at Louisville Ballet and BalletMET, dancing up to 40 hours each week. Around her freshman year of high school, she ended up dropping out of dance after concluding that she likely wouldn’t become a professional. However, she ended up returning to dance in college while majoring in engineering. “I joined ballet and modern dance classes in college and was a founding member of the dance performance group there. I rediscovered dance during grad school, as well as during my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa,” she shares. “Dance kept coming back all the time.” As Terrell fell back in love with dance, she decided to start teaching during the evenings and on the weekends and eventually quit her main job to devote her full time to teaching. Terrel has taught all over the Eastside, including building a dance program at Redmond Parks and Recreation.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Washington state, Terrel’s daughter had been in town dancing as a professional division student at Pacific Northwest Ballet. The two decided to make some dance videos to keep kids dancing at home engaged in their learning; however, many of the videos got copyright blocked and others didn’t receive many views. Eager to reach a larger audience, the two decided they would try their hand at making books instead of videos. “There was a lot to learn - many areas outside a dance teacher’s wheelhouse,” Terrel says of creating her books.
“My advice would be to have patience, keep making small steps, and try to enjoy the journey.”
When the idea to create books struck Terrel, she says that it felt “like exactly what [she] was meant to do.” She had been teaching dance for years, was a board member for PNB, had taught English during her time with the Peace Corps, worked as a family advocate for an early learning center, and much more. “I was just like ‘Oh my gosh! All of these things I've done are totally book-related.’”
Terrel essentially taught herself everything she needed to know about creating and distributing books, such as software like Adobe InDesign, uploading books on Amazon, and more. She even found illustrators from all over the world to create the artwork in her books. The process was full of trial and error and she came up against roadblocks time and time again, like losing her Word document with the book’s story, InDesign crashing several times, and Amazon removing her books from its platform. But she pushed through it all and managed to create Once Upon a Dance.
“We created the books I wished I’d had as [a] mother to a little girl and dance teacher of young kids. My daughter would have adored these stories had they been available when she was young,” Terrel shares. She points out that when her daughter was growing up, there was a lack of movement books available that offered creative ways to teach dance steps. Terrel describes printing out images she found online of ballerinas to use as visual aids when teaching her students.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Once Upon a Dance produced 16 books and currently have more on the way. The series Dance-It-Out! Creative Movement Stories for Young Movers is designed for ages 4+ and includes stand-alone stories that feature movement suggestions and photos of Terrel’s daughter as “Ballerina Konora.” “We think of each book as a dance performance, with different formatting, layout, and illustrators, just as a different show would have new sets, costumes, and choreography.”
The series Dancing Shapes: Ballet and Body Awareness for Young Dancers for ages 6+ gives a glimpse into Ballerina Konora’s journey to becoming a professional dancer, while she leads readers through a warm-up, mini ballet lesson, and an in-depth look into the details and shapes involved in dance. “We were honored that the first Dancing Shapes book won several awards including a 2021 Independent Press Award,” Terrel shares.
The final main series, coming out in 2022, is Ballet Inspiration and Choreography Concepts for Young Dancers, which is designed for ages 8+. This series includes tips on technique and dives into more advanced dance concepts, such as choreography, posture, and even “falling” on stage.
In addition to its three main series, Once Upon a Dance carries a couple of journals, as well as Konora’s Shapes Series, which is a card collection of poses intended to be cut out from the book. Additionally, people are encouraged to look out for Once Upon a Dance audiobooks coming soon, as free companions with the books.
If Terrel were to give one piece of advice for people who want to start their own business, it would be to “celebrate the small successes.” The phrase has become Terrel’s mantra through this whole process. “Being part of Dancewear Center was cause for celebration. We are thrilled and appreciative to have a local seller, so folks have an option beyond Amazon, Target, etc.” Terrel says. “My advice would be to have patience, keep making small steps, and try to enjoy the journey.”
