Dancing their way into Westside

Pride+at+the+Ice+the+Huskies+Pep+Rally.+September+29%2C+2017

Sharon Roberts

Pride at the Ice the Huskies Pep Rally. September 29, 2017

Here at Westside, we have two new dance teachers this year. There is Ms. Amberly Altamarino who is the Inertia Dance Company co-director, and Ms. Jena Emert who is the Pride Dance Team director.

Ms. Altamarino, who goes by Ms. A, doesn’t spend all of her time at Westside. She is a full-time dance teacher at Shadowbriar Elementary and at Westside High School. She is a graduate of Sam Houston University majoring in dance. Her dance training background consists of ballet, jazz, modern, tap, hip-hop and ballroom dance styles.

Lili Sullivan
Ms. A as she teaches Inertia practice.

With all the dance training, she talked about which one was her favorite. “I would have to say it’s a close tie between modern dance and ballroom dancing.” After college, she was giving an opportunity to come to Westside and teach. She decided to say yes because she was already familiar with the reputation that Inertia carries, and couldn’t pass on the offer. She loves working with Inertia, teaching them and encouraging them to their fullest potential whether it’s in dance or any other subject. Ms. A loves her team and can’t wait for the new year getting to know them.

 

 

 

Good friends with Ms. DeMartino, Ms. Emert is the new proud Pride director! Living in a large family, she grew up in Houston Texas.  She has 3 half-sisters, 1 adopted sister, and 1 stepbrother. When describing her family, she couldn’t forget about the pets. “I have two dogs, Hope and Thor, and one cat Buffy.” Ms. Emert travels a lot, saying she’s been to all states in the U.S.A. except for Hawaii and Alaska.

Lili Sullivan
Ms. Emret is shown coaching pride.

Out of all the states, she decided to come back to Texas, and go to Texas State University for college. Graduating from Texas State University, she majored in dance and minored in Fashion Merchandising. I asked her why Westside and she said, “Westside was an easy decision because I had worked with Pride team previously and I knew how talented the dancers were.” Not only does she coach pride, she teaches dance and advanced dance. As a dance teacher, she loves seeing the progress that is made after all of the hard work and practice, seeing it come together for a performance. Her favorite style of dance is jazz and that being a dance teacher, it makes her so happy because of how much she loves to dance and coach.