One year ago, the founder of First Steps Dance Program, Lizzy Bensfield (aka Miss Lizzy), left her hometown of Chicago. For almost a decade, she had been teaching children of all ages at one of the most successful dance studios in the Chicago suburbs, Expression Dance Studio.
A move to San Diego for her fiancé’s new job made her reflect on what she loved most about teaching dance.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that it wasn’t about the dance competitions or winning first place. It was watching her once-timid two-year-old students clinging to their parent on the first day of class that were now running into the studio with big smiles. It was the pure joy on her seven-year old’s faces when they finally nailed that new tap step they had been working on.
Last June, one of her students, Maddie, came up to her during the year-end recital. Maddie looked terrified and told Miss Lizzy that she did not want to go on stage because it was too scary. Miss Lizzy looked her in the eyes and asked her two simple questions: “Do you believe in yourself, and do you love to dance?”
Maddie said yes and did a wonderful job on stage. As Miss Lizzy watched from the wings, she asked herself those same questions. She realized she had the same answers as her student, and although it might be scary, all she had to do was take the first step. In that moment, First Steps Dance Program was born.
Introducing young children to the incredible world of dance through fun and engaging exercises (while still focusing on the fundamentals and proper technique!) is what Miss Lizzy loves most about teaching dance.
First Steps Dance Program was designed with your dancer in mind. With First Steps, you no longer have to worry if the class size will be too large or if your dancer’s experience level will be different than their peers.
First Steps focuses on personalized attention to your dancer by offering age-specific classes (ranging from 2-7 years old) that are limited to 8-10 students. More importantly, all classes are taught only by Miss Lizzy, who brings ten years of teaching experience to the classroom, and was described by a previous dance mom as “the Mary Poppins of dance teachers. She strikes a perfect balance of kind but firm, instructional yet encouraging, disciplined but fun.”
Miss Lizzy offers a positive and welcoming dance environment that will be sure to help your little one fall in love with the world of dance. They are currently offering summer dance classes, but their Fall Dance season begins Oct. 1st with a wide range of classes for 2-7-year-old children.
Register now for summer classes or the fall dance season at www.firststepsdanceprogram.com and follow them on Instagram and Facebook @firststepsdanceprogram to keep up-to-date on fun events and offerings throughout the year!
Lizzy Bensfield
Owner and Artistic Director
Lizzy took her first dance lesson when she was 10 years old. She recognized her love for dance early on, however, it was not until high school that she began to take dance seriously, training in multiple styles: ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop and lyrical. From there, Lizzy’s dance career took off. She was awarded a scholarship to Dance Olympus where she assisted Master Teachers all over the United States, and she received the Breakout Artist Winner at Nuvo Dance Convention as well as runner up at Jump Dance Convention. In 2009, Lizzy was accepted to the highly competitive and prestigious Beyond Words Dance Company where she participated in the Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago and took first place. Later that year, she attended Capezio A.C.E. Awards in New York City and took second place for a piece called “Us.” In 2012, Lizzy was selected to be a part of the Kate Jablonski Statement, a professional Chicago dance company.
