Classes started. I wasn't there. (First time in 16 years) 💛

This summer, I found myself laying on my bedroom floor, starfish style, listening to the same mix for the umpteenth time.

Nothing.No choreography.No inspiration.Just… silence.

“Okay, Amna,” I told myself. “If you still feel this way in two weeks, you have to talk to her.”

Two weeks later, with my heart in my throat, I made the call:

“This is very hard for me because you are SO important to me. But choreography is no longer coming through me. I feel like I have to force it, and you deserve better than that.”

Instead of the disappointment I feared, I found connection.This woman who had been with me since Amna Dance began met me with compassion.We even bonded over the wise, messy complexities of womanhood... over the courage it takes to honor what’s true, even when it feels terrifying.

That conversation gave me the permission I needed to do what my soul had been whispering for five years (since my second pregnancy): step back from teaching.

September 5 marked my first full weekend home for the start of classes in over 16 years.

• I went to our neighbor’s party, something I’d always missed

• Danced with my kids and husband until midnight

• Got a spontaneous callus-removal pedicure with my 10-year-old (my first in 20 years… we dancers guard those calluses like armor)

• Made homemade pizzas with the kids

Simple things.Sacred things.Things my soul had been craving.

And now, as our fall classes begin, I’m not teaching a single one.

Here’s what I thought would happen: everything would fall apart.Here’s what is actually happening: everything's expanding.

When we act on our hardest truths, everyone around us expands.

• Rocky, who took over most of my classes, texted:“I can’t believe I get to call this work. I feel home.”Choreography pours through her like water

• Pinky, my business partner of over a decade, is expanding her Pasadena team and living out her childhood dreams on the dance floor

• Our teaching family keeps growing:Varun with his hip-hop magicAshi with her warmthNatasha’s fierce loveIshi, Esha, Riya, Sahana, and Jhanvi inspiring through workshops and privates

• Mini, my backbone through every messy moment, holding space not just for our students but for this entire evolution

Our dance classes are evolving from one instructor to a family of instructors that bring fresh styles, new perspectives, and a richer learning experience for every dancer.

I know some of you are grieving this change.When parents tell me their child asks, “Where’s Ms. Amna?” my heart cracks a little. Change is hard.

But you’re not losing something.You’re gaining an entire village.

Not just one voice, but a chorus.Not just my style, but a tapestry of approaches serving our community more fully than I ever could alone.

Amna Dance was my first baby.And now, 16 years later, I’m learning what every parent learns: love means stepping back so it can grow beyond what you imagined.

Because if you want to go fast, go alone.But if you want to go far, you go together.

I’m still here, in the spaces no one sees but everyone feels:

• Nurturing our teachers’ confidence and dreams

• Creating pathways for more families to find us

• Developing showcase themes that matter

• Reconnecting our alumni

I’m learning that my most useful gifts were always about care, vision, and connection.

Choreography just wants a break. For now...