Miss Amy Schuldt has been a constant smiling face at Arthur Murray Fort Wayne for the past thirteen years. Beginning as a teacher-in-training through becoming the Studio Manager, she has taught, challenged, and cheered on all the students who walked through the doors.

From her love of Swing & Foxtrot to her crazy & entertaining routines, or her ability to use “Showcase Day” to transport us all to a whole other world, there isn’t any one person in our studio who hasn’t be touched by her amazing creativity and energy. Our tiny little redhead with the huge voice and bigger heart will be missed by everyone.

She is moving on from the Arthur Murray Fort Wayne family to start a new adventure and we couldn’t be more excited for her! We sat down with Amy to reflect on her impressive career and to get some final advice from the one-and-only “Miss Schuldt.”

How did you get started and when did you know this was going to be a career?

One of my high school friends had started at the studio in Spring 2007. When she mentioned it to me, she thought I would not only enjoy dancing, but I may really enjoy teaching, too. I applied, interviewed, trained, and VOILA! -- Thirteen years later, here I am! Turns out my friend was right! About 3 or 4 years after starting, I had graduated college with a BFA in Graphic Design but was in the post-college slump of "not knowing what you want to do with your life." My boss figured out a way to roll together all the things I love... planning, organizing, creating, designing, helping, supervising, and dancing. Her creativity sparked new life into what my role at Arthur Murray could be, how my talents could help the students & studio grow, and how to create a career for myself within the dance world.

What is a dance you believe more people should try and why?

I can't pick just one, so Argentine Tango & any style of Lindy Hop would be my two choices. I am a perfectionist at heart, but have realized there is a lot you can learn from chaos and uncertainty. For those that like rules and order, both dances can have chaotic personas & unknown variables because of the variety of rhythms, directions, tricks, and dance positions used. These two dances taught me that all my other techniques, like posture, control, body isolations, connections, & weight distributions, have to be more perfect in order to dance more freely.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

- Neale Donald Walsch

What have you found to be the best way to break out of your comfort zone?

As the phrase goes, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." So, 1) saying "yes" more often, and 2) trying new things are ways I chose to break out more often.

Trying something new does not mean you have to permanently add it to your life. I've seen so many students step outside of their comfort zones the first time they walked in the studio or the first time they did a spotlight dance... and they all say the same thing... "That wasn't as scary as I thought it would be."

Your comfort zone is comfortable for a reason... it's a collection of experiences you have deemed acceptable to become regular occurrences in your life. The only way to expand your comfort zone is to put new experiences into that bubble. If you do those things enough times, the “scary” become second nature.

How has the studio changed since you started?

Oh my goodness! It has changed a lot! We have always been a cozy dance studio with a lot of talent. That is one thing that has not and will not change. However, we have changed locations from East State Blvd, to a second studio on Illinois Rd, to moving to Coldwater Rd which is now our only location. Our technology has definitely upgraded. It was a big deal when we got a computer and electronic scheduling program for our front desk. Gone were the days of recording everything on paper by hand!

Back in 2007, we still used CD's to play music for lessons, groups, and parties, and studied our dance patterns off VHS's. We had a little handheld camcorder to record routines or coaching lessons because phones weren't that fancy yet. We were a “last names only” studio which is not the case anymore, and skirts/dresses only rule for female instructors was phasing out. And, we have added DIGITAL LESSONS now! I don't think it ever crossed my mind that we would one day be teaching lessons online, or holding groups and parties via video calls. The world evolves so quickly, and the studio has been adapting well to all of the upgrades and changes.

What are a few of your favorite career highlights?

Having a pirate sword fight mid Viennese Waltz routine stands out. Going to the national finals in Las Vegas and placing second with Area 4 in the All-Stars teaching challenge was exciting. Seeing any of my choreographed formations performanced by an awesome team of students and staff was always a thrill. Any of our Showcase events are huge achievements. So much planning, creativity, and communication go into planning this multi-studio event, and the sigh of success we can all breathe after Showcase is over is truly rewarding. We've made each year bigger and better since I was put in charge of them in 2015, and my favorite themes were definitely Havana Nights (2017) and Wild Wild West (2018.)

Another memorable highlight was working with various schools & organizations around town to teach dances to children. I’ve taught Waltz during a kid's Medieval summer camp, Latin dances for school education weeks, comprehensive overviews of partnered dances to kids of all ages from K-8, and even some adult classes at YMCA’s, Dancesport, and other events. The kids were always alarmed when they discovered they would have to dance with a partner, but they never cared by the end of the lessons. They were so adorable and I hope some of them are drawn to dancing in the future.

Compilation provided by Greg Smith at Award Video Services

What will you miss most about teaching?

I am really going to miss breaking down patterns and concepts to teach to staff and students. Conveying why something happens the way it does, coming up with silly analogies, or helping others understand concepts is exciting for me. I'm going to miss watching the "ah-ha" moments when the light bulbs start to turn on and it all finally clicks, or when students realize they could do something they never thought possible. When those moments happened, I knew we were helping someone discover a new version of themselves and Arthur Murray's was a part of that growth.