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DC teacher stays after school to teach ballet lessons for free

During the day, Jordan Daugherty teaches students all about music. After school her classroom transforms into a modest dance studio.

WASHINGTON -- Dance classes can be pricey. For many students in Center City Charter School in Petworth however, dance is not an option for them.

During the day, Jordan Daugherty teaches students all about music. After school her classroom transforms into a modest dance studio.

Twice a week, Daugherty stays after school to teach young girls all about ballet. She does it in a room with no mirrors and no ballet bar. They simply make due with what is in the room.

"There's no reason we can't have ballet class just because we don't have a bar. It doesn't stop you from learning the technique and it doesn't stop you from learning the vocabulary and falling in love with it," said Daugherty.

She has been dancing since she was three years old. Attending a performing arts high school in Kentucky, Ms. Jordan as the students call her, knows how important representation is.

Many of her students are Latino and African American. For them to see an African American teacher showing them that dance is an option for them is monumental.

"No one should not have the opportunity to do something just because they don't have the means, It just makes me feel like I'm doing something right," she said.

Right now a ballet bar and mirrors aren't in the school's budget. Even without them, Daugherty says she will continue to teach her students.

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