Why UDA Staff?

When you join UDA Staff, you join a family larger than you ever imagined. From the moment you finish your first staff audition to the start of each summer, and every memory in between, representing UDA is an opportunity you will never forget. On one hand, the relationships you make with people around you are some of the most enriching connections you can make. As a member of the UDA Staff, you will have the chance to work with some of the most genuine people in the nation who love to dance and to teach just as much as you do. Being surrounded by coworkers who motivate you to be a better instructor, a better dancer, and a more wholesome person all around, leaves you feeling proud and honored to be on staff. The friendships you make with people on staff are bonds that last so far beyond UDA. Imagine all of your closest staff friends standing next to you on your wedding day or when you graduate college, the possibilities are endless and yet they are only possibilities because of the opportunities you are provided through being a member of UDA staff.

Not only do you get the chance to build relationships with your fellow staff members, you also get the amazing opportunity to form bonds with campers from all over the nation. Right from the start of camp kick-off, you are a role model and a leader for all of the dancers attending the camp. One thing that keeps a lot of staff members excited to teach every day is the glimmer that campers get in their eye when they finally figure out what they were doing wrong in their pirouettes or when they tackle that really hard footwork section of the routine you taught them. Knowing that you are changing dancers’ lives one camp at a time is truly a feeling unlike any other. These relationships you form while at camp sometimes have the chance to extend beyond just the few short days you have over the summer. Throughout the year, you will have so many opportunities to work competitions and events for UDA where you might just see a few familiar faces from the summer.

As a whole, working on UDA Staff provides you with so many opportunities to learn and grow while helping others to do the same. You will be taught skills that will help to prepare you for whatever your future holds, and you will learn how to be the most reliable employee and coworker you can be. Although being on UDA staff is a job, it is so much more than just a way to pass time over the summer. The memories you will make through the years on staff and the lessons you will learn are things that you will hold close to your heart for years to come.  

By Shelby Simons