May 1, 2017

Meet Natalie Rast of Rast Ballet & Dance Studio in North Center

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Rast.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Natalie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was a former professional dancer that turned to teaching as a way to make a living while I was still dancing. Eventually when I semi-retired and had a child I needed to work full-time and was able to piece together a living by teaching at several Chicago dance studios. In 1993 I moved all my classes to a studio where I could rent space at $15 per hour and I was finally able to make a living and not have to work at 5 different dance studios. In 2006 the dance studio that I was renting space from made the decision to no longer offer adult classes. My classes were always for adults and teens so I was forced to find a space of my own. I opened my space March 15th of 2006. I have been the sole teacher of all the ballet classes at my studio. I also sub-rent the space to other teachers that offer classes in yoga, hip hop and African dance. I also offer rehearsal space for individual choreographers and for small Chicago dance companies. My space has been used for film work by Columbia College and DePaul college students. I have also had a music video filmed in the space. My space is also available for small parties.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
For the most part. It’s not easy starting off from scratch but since I have been teaching in Chicago since 1985 I do have a reputation and a name so that has helped a lot.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I specialize in teaching teen/adult ballet classes. I teach students of all levels though it seems that I am more sought after by beginners than advanced students. The advanced students I work with often study with me privately for special coaching.

I believe that ballet should be accessible for everyone. I have students as young as 12 and as old as 80. Everyone deserves the same training that a professional dancer would receive so I don’t sugar coat what I expect of the dancers but I do believe I am gentle in my approach at the same time. I do not have a dress code so dancers can wear what they feel most comfortable in.

I think that what sets me apart is my bubbly personality, my passion for teaching and the way I can connect with many people in a group setting.

What were you like growing up?
I was a very busy child. I was always outside playing baseball or football with the boys until my mom stopped me from doing that at 12. I had started studying ballet at 10 but I still loved sports or maybe it was the boys. I did some gymnastics too but ballet was a passion from the start. I also played the piano but ballet kind of took over that as well. I loved to read as well and was always asking to go to the library. It didn’t hurt that my mother was a library scientist. I also had a great love of music as my dad is a professor of music specializing in group piano, pedagogy and Harpsichord.

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