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Q&A: Hilary Rinella

Hilary Rinella built the W.t. White dance program from the ground up. In four years, she has more than doubled enrollment and sparked a passion for the art among the student body, who pack the auditorium to see these dancers in action.

What’s your background in dance?

I grew up dancing at a studio in Arlington and did all the competitive dancing. In high school, you had to pick one thing, and I chose choir, which is great for [W.T. White] because I can understand what’s needed [for choreography]. At my dance studio, I was an assistant instructor by age 12, and I was teaching classes on my own at 16. I was choreographing all the recitals. After high school, I went to Texas Tech University, but I did not major in dance. I was on scholarship with the pom squad. I still taught dance full-time at a studio in Lubbock while also taking 18 hours of coursework so I could graduate in four years. I graduated in 2005 with a degree in public relations and marketing.

But you didn’t end up doing that, did you?

I couldn’t find a job right away. Both my parents are educators. My mom was having double knee surgery, so I subbed for her class. In the 12 weeks that I was there, I thought, “This is what I should be doing.” It’s what I should have been doing all along. I was accepted into the Dallas ISD alternative certification program. I taught at a Cleburne elementary school. At night, I was still teaching dance at a studio in Duncanville. I’ve never stopped teaching or taking dance since I was 2. I thought that would be the perfect world, to teach dance during the day. W.T. White had an opening, and luckily, I was chosen. This is my fifth year at W.T. White.

What was the dance program like when you arrived at W.T. White?

There was not a dance program when I got here. I got to build it from the ground up. There was not a dance room — no mirrors, no bars. I just brought my iPod and iPod dock. That’s just the way it is when a program is starting. We knew we’d have to get people interested, so we have hip-hop because that’s what the students like. That’s what they see every day. Then I was able to teach them the more classical genres.

How has it grown over the past four years?

We had about 200 students the first year.

We had about 280 the second year. Then they let me hire a part-time instructor, Krisna Martinez. We had 1,000 students sign up between the second and third year, but we try to keep each class to about 30 students. So the third year, we had around 300. Now, we have about 450 students. So within four years, we went from not having a dance program to doubling [enrollment].

Do you have better facilities now?

Yes. We should give credit to DISD. Diana Gallego is the dance coordinator for the district. We were dancing on wrestling mats with no air conditioning. This is the first year that we’ll have air conditioning. Now, we have two studios. We have stateof-the-art dance floors, we have mirrors, we have bars. And, DISD paid for it.

How does the program compare to what you might find at a professional studio in the area?

We run the program just like a dance studio. We cover every genre you could think of — ballet, modern, hip-hop, world and social dance — and we keep to a schedule. We don’t compete. We want it to be about performing and loving the art of dance. Sometimes, when you compete, you lose what you were really trying to accomplish. Every student is in the endof-the-year program. We have three ways students participate in dance. We have Dance 1, which is for anyone who wants to sign up, and most of them have never had a formal dance class. We have the dance academy (part of the school’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts) where they have to audition as eight-graders going into freshman year. Ms. Martinez and I each have a dance company for students who want hardcore training before and after school. We had seven students in the Debbie Allen Dance Institute, 10 students in the DISD Summer Dance Intensive. I have a former student who’s on the Harvard University dance team. This is not just an extra-curricular. Students are interested in this for their life. If you asked anyone what my motto is, they’d say to get bigger and better every year.

—Emily Toman

What gives?

Small ways that you can make a big difference for nonprofits

Get up and give

Sept. 13 is Get up and Give! North Texas Giving Day, an online campaign to support hundreds of local nonprofits. DonorBridge sorts groups by category and allows them to receive matching funds when donations are made through the website. Neighborhood nonprofits that would benefit include Foster Kids Charity, Dallas International School, Arc of Dallas and others. The campaign runs 7 a.m.midnight. Visit cftexas.org.

Eat a cupcake

Sept. 24-28, Sprinkles Cupcakes will donate a portion of sales from its Brown Boot Vanilla cupcake to the Give Cancer the Boot campaign. It’s part of the annual Cattle Baron’s Ball set for Sept. 29 at Southfork Ranch — the world’s largest single fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. Sprinkles is at 4020 Villanova. Look for the vanilla cupcake with the brown boot decal. For more information on the Cattle Baron’s Ball, visit cattlebaronsball.com.

Start your holiday shopping

The Winston School Parent Teacher Organization hosts its Start the Season Gift Market 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 15 at the school, 5707 Royal. Visitors can browse all kinds of festive gifts such as jewelry, home décor, and arts and crafts, and enjoy lunch in the Happy Holidays Café. Proceeds go toward funding scholarships and classroom technology for the school, which serves students in first- through 12th-grade who learn differently. For more information, visit starttheseason.com.

Know of ways that neighbors can spend time, attend an event, or purchase or donate something to benefit a neighborhood nonprofit? Email your suggestion to launch@advocatemag.com.