At age nine Bermudian Jacqueline Mayor enrolled in the Somerset School of Dancing. An enthusiastic gymnast at the time, she took up ballet at the suggestion of her coach who thought the genre would help with her floor routines.

By age 11 she decided she preferred ballet to gymnastics, and three years later added jazz classes to her extra-curricular activities. For many years, she also participated in the Bermuda Civic Ballet's summer programmes.

Little did she imagine that those early decisions would ultimately determine the path to her chosen career as a dance teacher. All she knew was that she had a passion for dance, and moreover she was good at it.

So good, in fact, that she went on to study at the Quinte Ballet School in Belleville, Ontario, where the instruction was more intensive. Then she heard about the American Ballet Theatre's (ABT) summer intensive programme, and for two years travelled to Alabama to participate.

Today, she is delighted that local dance students no longer have to travel abroad to participate in the ABT's summer intensives because they are offered here in collaboration with the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda (NDFB).

When Miss Mayor returned home this summer, it was not as a dance student but as a member of the NDFB/ABT 'Bermuda's Emerging Dance Artists' (BEDA) programme. This provides participants with an opportunity to choreograph, observe classes, discuss lesson planning and more. In addition, she was invited to be a member of the DanceBermuda faculty, and as such taught Latin dancing.

"I was very lucky as I taught not only the Intensive Dance programme, but also the Young Dancers programme, which was so rewarding," she says. "I chose to focus on the cha-cha-cha with the older girls and boys, and the cha-cha-cha and samba with the younger ones. On top of that I also choreographed 'Libertango' for the older DanceBermuda students' workshop performance at City Hall."

Certainly, Miss Mayor was very pleased with the students' reaction to her classes.

"I felt like they were holding on to every word. What was so lovely was that you could see they had a passion for dance. They realised how amazing this opportunity was for them, and they jumped on board."

Of her first experience with BEDA, the 21-year-old says it was "an absolute honour" to be asked to participate since it provided an opportunity to give back to the community which raised her in dance.

Asked what qualities she felt a dance teacher needed to be successful, Miss Mayor responds: "You can't ever expect something, because children are unique, and you will have a different group of students each year. I think you need to change and keep learning yourself in order to provide the best for your students. The best thing about teaching is seeing that look on a dancer's face when they finally get something they have been struggling with. When students are proud of themselves it is such a beautiful thing."

Currently furthering her studies at the Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre in Liverpool, England, where she is focusing on various dance genre, including modern, jazz, Latin, contemporary, and tap, in addition to continuing her ballet training, Miss Mayor began her dance teacher training at the National Ballet School in Toronto. There she studied ballet and European folk dance, at the same time registering with its affiliate, the Royal Academy of Dance in Britain. When she graduated from the National Ballet School it was with distinction, and she also gained her teaching credentials from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (National Faculty).

"The teaching diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance qualifies me to teach ballet anywhere in the world, while the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance is an organisation with a number of genre-specific faculties, and I was studying national dance, which is European folk dance. It is a dying art, and one of the reasons I did it was because a lot of the choreographic tools come from folk dancing, and it is very useful to apply them to end-of-year recitals," she says.

"The syllabus includes learning about the country, the music and the costumes."

Joining the Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre in September, 2007, Miss Mayor has two more years of study before gaining her teaching diploma. She chose the school because it offers both a teacher training programme and a musical theatre programme, which is perfect for those wishing to pursue a teaching or a professional career, or a combination of both.

"The school is absolutely fantastic, and I am thrilled with the teaching and feedback I am getting," she says. "It is nice because you have the combination of classes that are working on the pedagogy of children with ones which keep you in shape. Dance is a way to express yourself, which is one of the main reasons why I keep it up. It is an art form and a means of expression."

The winner of the NDFB's Madame Ana Roje scholarship for the past two years, as well as Bermuda Arts Council grants, Miss Mayor pays tribute to both organisations whose awards have made it possible for her to train overseas.

"I am very, very grateful for both their financial and their moral support, and of course all my teachers at the Somerset School of Dancing," she says.

While her ultimate goal is to bring her talents back to the Island, in the short term she plans to gain post-graduate teaching experience abroad.

"My dream is to return to Bermuda and pass on what I was able to learn and provide that to the next generation," she says.

Asked what artistic advice she would give to young Bermudians, Miss Mayor answers: "I would encourage any young Bermudian to get involved in any art form, because they all have their beauties. I am obviously biased towards dance because it gives me something to do, and a goal to try and reach.

"You have to be quite disciplined to do dance classes, and on top of that you will learn social skills and interacting with other people in a class. You might be learning about other cultures. Dance exposes you to so many different opportunities, especially with the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda. We are so lucky to have the ABT come here, and they also do master classes. I would definitely say, 'Take advantage of that if you have the opportunity' because 10 years ago I didn't have that opportunity. I was leaving as everything was getting started.

"It is the same thing with the Bermuda Civic Ballet's summer classes. For such a small Island, we are very blessed to have the amount of overseas guests we have who come here, in addition to Bermudians who have had a background in dance."