welcome!

Hi guys! Thanks for popping in. My name is Adrienne Baumer, and I am a choreographer, dance teacher & full time mom! I created this website because I love teaching, and want an accessible way that kids can connect with me to level up their dancing no matter where they are at. I always get asked about private lessons, and since my time is limited I just thought... why not bring the classes to everyone else?!

Enter, the blog. I have always loved writing. It’s one of my favorite things in the world (I actually have big dreams to write a book someday) and I really wanted a comprehensive place where I can share all things dance and creativity in a space I love. So, I will be posting new articles here on the things I’ve learned along the way as a dancer, teacher and choreographer - AND as a former studio owner. So whether you’re currently dancing or in a leadership position there will be something for everyone here on this page. As always, let me know what topics you might be looking for in the comments so that I can make sure to touch on a little of everything. Without further ado… here’s a bit about me.

Me in one of my dance classes as a kid

Believe me, I’m not a school kid. I never was. If I could have been homeschooled all the way through I so would have. But, that wasn’t my story. I went to regular high school (while traveling along with some conventions and competing every single weekend) and worked my butt off to make sure I was ready to enter the workforce.

My parents asked me about college. I, obviously, did not want to go. I wanted to immediately move to California and become a professional dancer. They didn’t love that idea (I live in Missouri and that’s so far from California! As a mom now, I totally get where they were coming from). So, I went to school for a year at Webster University in St. Louis and studied dance. While I’m grateful for my time there, it just wasn’t for me. I actually ended up getting injured and I was out for 9 months, the longest I have ever gone without dancing. Once I was healed up, mom & dad agreed it was time to try the California thing.

I grew up dancing. I started at the age of 3, when my mom put me into dance so that I wouldn’t have two left feet like she does. Sometimes I wonder if she had any idea what was coming for her when she put me into that room for the first time, but I instantly fell in love. I mean, IN LOVE. From that day on, literally at age 3, dance was all I thought about, talked about, and did. I was homeschooled until I was 9 - so I did lots of dancing at all hours in the day, and was on a competitive team at the age of 5.

At age 10, we left our dance studio due to personal reasons and my parents thought it best if I took a break and tried other sports, so I took a year off. It sucked! I was so sad and danced every night in the basement until they finally took me back. I went to a new studio and felt right at home. That was where I met my mentor, Sara! Around this time, I started taking dance more seriously and was pretty set on it being my career.

Me and my mentor, Sara B (2015)

So… out to California we went. I lived there for a summer, during the summer of 2016. I was out there to take class, make connections and to audition for a scholarship program. And, crazy enough, I hated it. I quickly realized it was not for me. Something in me just screamed for the midwest. I missed my family, the small town vibes, and something inside me just told me it wasn’t the move. On top of that, I actually didn’t even make it into the program that I auditioned for. Which is OKAY! Rejection is a part of life and it was so embarrassing to admit that I didn’t make it (it still is a little haha) it was actually for the best. Because I came home and started teaching. And wow what a journey that’s taken me on.

This is the group of kids (some of them, anyway) that made me fall in love with teaching.

Unsurprisingly, I hated it. I never wanted to own a dance studio. It was fun for a while but I knew I never wanted to do it so when it fell in my lap I just said okay even though I didn’t really intend on doing it. I was in a new location, I didn’t know anyone. I couldn’t easily find another studio to take me and a whole bunch of kids at that point - so it was on me.

Then COVID hit. Literally that same year. Bad frickin timing. Amongst the craziness of owning a studio, and COVID, and all of the things that happened in that time - I met my husband, AJ.

We had a whirlwind romance, engaged after a year and married 9 months after that. And then, we didn’t exactly slow down. 5 months after being married we were pregnant with my daughter Delilah, and 17 months after she was born, we had my son Theo.

My life has been wild since 2019. At the end of 2023, I realized I was deeply unsatisfied. All signs pointed back to the studio, and how much I didn’t enjoy doing it.

Simply put, I was born to create. I wasn’t born to be analytical and business oriented. So, I met with a studio owner friend and decided to merge our studios together.

My family!

I started teaching in 2017 and I was only 19 years old and I don’t think I was particularly very good at it. I was still dancing, still intended on moving back to California despite not liking it, I believed in order to have a career in dance I needed to be there. I was pretty selfish, when I started teaching. I just wanted to take class, not teach it! I taught from that viewpoint for a while, until I met a certain group of kids in 2019. My kids at this time were pivotal, life changing even, if you will. I started to view teaching as a way to expand on my creativity, to bring new people into this art form that I loved so much.

Loved those kids so much even, that in 2019 when I found out that our studio owner was going to close our location, I offered to take it over.

And so, The Dance Project, in Farmington, Missouri was born.

Me and my best friend Lexie the day we announced that TDP was opening!

Which brings us to the here and now! I am finally able to expand on my career as a choreographer, which is what I believe my path has always led to. I am able to teach freely and openly, and enjoy my time without having to deal with the pains of owning a business. I’m so grateful for each experience I’ve had in the dance world, but I’m glad to finally be at the one that’s meant for me.

At the end of the day, what’s meant for you will find you. Life will take you on the adventure that is intended for you, but eventually - whether it’s off the bat or after a while - you’ll end up where you are meant to be.

So here we are! I’m so excited to be diving into 2025 with the world at my feet. I am ready to get creative, be playful and make the most of the life I have.

I am so glad you are here to join me on this adventure!

LET’S DANCE!