The Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet is a nonprofit that offers not only ballet but also jazz, hip-hop, tap and contemporary dance classes, and the school is also using dance to make life better with the help of a community foundation.

“When they come here, sometimes you have people who have self-esteem issues, they won’t make eye contact, or they don’t talk much, and then all of a sudden they just blossom.”

And it’s dancing that helps make that blossoming happen. For more than 15 years, Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet and its school of dance have created dance magic in the Piedmont Triad. Founder and Director Princess Johnson says dance intrigued her when she was a child, even though she says she wasn’t that good at it.

“I did well in all subjects, and I was gifted in many things, but I honestly was not that gifted in dance,” says Johnson. “But for some reason, dance was compelling and calling to me, probably because it was the most challenging thing I had ever faced.”

Johnson says dance challenged her to express herself and made her feel seen and heard. Years later, she worked to help other girls feel seen, too, with a dance production called “The Hair Journey.” She says hair is such an important part of how we identify and can impact how we navigate our lives.

“Some of us may choose to wear weaves or some of us may want to be natural, or we want to braid our hair, but those choices are always so significant. So, we try to tell that story of our hair through dance and movement and even hands-on classes and training,” she says. “We’ve done hair braiding classes, art classes that involve creating self-portraits of you and your hair. So, we really want people to learn to love themselves and feel confident in who they are and how they were born.”

A $14,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro helped make “The Hair Journey” happen, but Royal Expressions is about more than dance. It’s also about building healthier lifestyles. In the last year, it has implemented a community garden where students can learn about growing food and making better food choices so their bodies are properly fueled for dance.

“If you would like to start your dance journey with us, either through your child or yourself, we do have a school, and our school, we do train and dance, but our wrap-around services include building community, and also building healthier lifestyles,” says Johnson. “So, we are really heavy on focusing on making sure that people have physical, mental and emotional well-being through our program.”

Royal Expressions offers dance classes for children as young as two. There’s also an adult recreational program. It’s based in Greensboro but is working on plans to expand statewide.