Olivia Gilmore, Donna Burke, Lennon Womble and Mary Beth Geiser embrace after a private ballet lesson
Donna Burke may be a dance teacher, but to students like 13-year-old Lennon Womble, she’s also a life coach.
Womble, who started training with Burke at age 3, says her instructor has a knack for teaching life lessons along with choreography.
“I consider her family; she’s really changed my life and made it better,” Womble says. “Honestly, just being around her makes me happy!”
Since her daughter came under Burke’s tutelage, her mother, LeAnne Womble- Reilly, has watched a “painfully shy” child blossom into a confident teen. She gives Burke much of the credit for the transformation, calling her “one of the most giving and selfless people I have ever known.”
“She gives of herself 200 percent — to her dancers, her friends, her family and her community,” Womble-Reilly says. “She has truly built a legacy over the past 40-plus years and remains the most humble person. I am honored to call her my friend.”
At age 73, Burke still teaches ballet and jazz four days a week at her studio, Donna’s Visual and Performing Arts Center in Ocean Springs, and choreographs for the studio’s competition team, DKG. Several of her dancers have gone on to Broadway, Disney and Las Vegas, as well as casinos and cruise lines.
“My students are always amazing me, and if it weren’t for their inspiration, I believe I would not be where I am today,” Burke says. “Every time another student becomes a professional dancer and fulfills her dreams, you know you have had an impact on her life.”
In her own life, Burke says the old adage applies: “You don’t choose dance; it chooses you.” She enjoyed dance but never intended to make it her career.
“I started because that’s what little girls do,” Burke says. “When I learned that I was good at it, it was even better. I enjoyed the creativity of the different styles and assisting other teachers.”
While attending the University of Southern Mississippi, Burke taught dance at a studio in Hattiesburg to earn extra money, and she’s been instructing ever since. She’s had studios in Richton, Leakesville and Sand Hill and was the first certified jazzercise teacher in the state. For a time, she also taught gymnastics.
When she and her husband came to the Coast in the 1970s, Ocean Springs had no dance studio — so Burke opened one. Her passion for dance appears to run in the family, as both of her daughters and one of her granddaughters have turned professional.
Her studio has grown to include eight teachers and around 350 students, and classes are offered in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, pointe, hip-hop and street jazz. The quality of instruction is evident in the numerous regional and national awards the studio has amassed over the years.
According to Womble- Reilly, Burke doesn’t let her students settle for mediocrity in dance or any other aspect of life.
“She is tough, no doubt about that — very tough — but I love that for my child,” she says. “You don’t get anywhere in life if you aren’t forced to work hard for what you want.
“She wants her students to be their best, and she pushes hard for that. And she gets amazing results.”
Womble is in her seventh year with DKG and has won first- and second-place honors with solos, as well as many placements with groups, including best in show. Burke putting her in a featured turn section with two older girls was a milestone in her life, Womble-Reilly says, and seeing that her teacher believed in her helped her daughter gain self-confidence.
“Donna pushes her every day to speak up and have pride and faith in herself,” she adds. “She talks to her about more than just dance, and that goes a long way with a 13-year-old-girl.”
Each day brings something different, but Burke tries to set an example by meeting it with prayer and a positive attitude. She also doesn’t want her students to place too much value on trophies — especially since failure is often a better teacher than success.
“Wins will come and go,” she says, “so store these in your heart and become a better person who can help others.”
For the wins she’s experienced, which include receiving a key to the city and the respect of the community, Burke thanks “the great man upstairs.”
“God has been with me all thru my dance years,” she says, “and I give him all the credit for my success.”