Layla Adams joined PV High this year as the new Choreo and Intermediate Dance coach, as well as teaching PE Dance, Yoga and general PE.
Her passion for dance started at the young age of two when she secretly started dancing.
“There was a [teacher] who would come around to different schools and [teach] preschool ballet and tap. I wanted to join, but you had to be three to join so I would just leave my classroom and go join the [dance] class,” Adams said.
As her parents became aware of her newfound liking for dance, they were quick to encourage her on what would become a lifelong journey.
“I just always wanted to [dance]. I didn’t even know that I wanted to do it, but I saw other people [dancing], so I started doing dance and my parents were really supportive [and enrolled] me [in] lessons both at the preschool and when I got old enough to take them at a local studio.”
Adams has experience in many forms of dance. “I did ballet, tap and jazz mostly, but as I got older I started doing more contemporary and modern style dance,” she said.
Following her high school graduation, she pursued higher education earning her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Cal Arts and her Master of Fine Arts from Saint Lawrence.
However, Adams didn’t immediately decide to become a teacher.
“I danced and choreographed professionally around the US and in the UK.”
She explored different cultural dances like Bharatanatyam dance and other cultural dancestyles.
She primarily choreographed for concerts and musical theater shows prior to advancing her career in education.
“I was [teaching] on the Westside [of Los Angeles] before I came here and then during the pandemic and pre-pandemic, I was mostly teaching at a performing arts college and community colleges.”
Adams was able to bring the knowledge she acquired from former teachers into her dance classroom.
“I have had really great dance teachers in my life who have always been an inspiration and have been such great teachers, that I always aspire to be like them.”
The deep and extensive skills she learned from her teachers now allow her to provide her dancers with valuable learning opportunities.
“I like helping new dancers have ‘aha’ moments. A lot of times dance can feel very complex on the body, its complex movement patterns, and they’re not intuitive to every person. So watching someone who doesn’t get it right away, get it, is really beautiful.”