Our Story
At Find Your Center, we combine our unique experiences and expertise to approach ballet and capoeira from a new perspective. When Kate and DeShawn met, we had both trained for many years at professional ballet and capoeira schools, respectively. We were both pursuing careers in other areas, but drew immensely on our ballet and capoeira training in everything we did. We found that despite the cultural distance between ballet and capoeira, we had essentially the same training in recognizing and striving for excellence. We knew how to set seemingly impossible goals and work diligently toward them. We knew how to combine movement, music, and athleticism to create beauty and magic. We knew how to give and take, to work with strength and lightness, with confidence and humility. We knew the constant everyday work that it takes to center yourself, lose your center, and find it again.
Ballet and capoeira both require a physical centering that lies at the heart of performing difficult balances and movements with a defiant ease. This physical centering starts with the most basic movements and is a constant endeavor. Ballet dancers and capoeiristas must continually focus their energy on finding their centers of gravity and moving with efficiency. Athletes and performers of all kinds can use ballet and capoeira training to get the most out of every movement, to perform each gesture with power and purpose.
Finding your center is also an intellectual and emotional endeavor. Many martial arts forms require meditation to focus mental energy and remain calm and centered in combat. In capoeira, this energy is called axê. In ballet, it might be called stage presence. In any discipline, it takes focused training to be present and aware of all the moving parts in every moment. Ballet and capoeira students learn to channel emotions and thoughts into creative energy, to pause, step away from the chaos of life, and find a place of confidence and power.
At Find Your Center, we also seek to foster a community where students of all kinds can be themselves, and where all kinds of people can be students. For students who want to train professionally, perform, and compete, we will get you there—we will take you as far as we can, and connect you with other training opportunities when you need more. For students who just want to stay healthy, have fun, feel beautiful, and de-stress, we will get you there too. Come with your friends, your siblings, your kids, or by yourself. Be ready to focus, work hard, and feel the joy of accomplishment. We will challenge you to center yourself, we will be there for you when you lose your center, and we will guide you to find it again.