Meet the Founder: Twinkle Lam of Twinkle Dance Company
Meet the Founder: Twinkle Lam of Twinkle Dance Company
Mompreneur Twinkle Lam founded Twinkle Dance Company in 2007 to create an educational yet fun and safe environment for dancers of all ages to express themselves through dance.
Table of Contents
- What does dance mean to you and what inspired you to create Twinkle Dance Company?
- What is your company philosophy and how does it tie in with your beliefs about early childhood learning and development?
- Why is it important for children to learn to express themselves creatively, either through dance, or other forms of art?
- What have been some of the challenges of being a mother while being the founder and creative director of Twinkle Dance Company?
- What helps you stay balanced between your roles as a mother, founder, and creative director? What has been crucial for you in making it all work?
- How can you conjugate all those various roles? Do you incorporate dance into your son and daughter’s life?
- How do you include sustainability in your daily life, as a mom, and as Twinkle Dance’s founder? Why have you decided to partner with Retykle to encourage the reuse of pre-loved dance attire?
Today, she helms the Twinkle Dance Company as its creative director.
A professional dancer by training, Twinkle has many years of experience and has attended multiple dance schools. However, as time went on she realised that learning how to dance could be done in a fun yet thoughtful way without sacrificing technique.
We spoke with Twinkle to learn more about what inspired her to start her own dance company with this unique teaching philosophy, as well as how she balances life with two children, running a successful business, and staying organised all the while doing what she loves.
Q: What does dance mean to you and what inspired you to create Twinkle Dance Company?
Twinkle: I was inspired by my mom who was a ballet student. She brought me to her ballet class while I was a baby.
I have started dancing when I was three years old. Being a dance teacher was my childhood dream. While I was training in traditional ballet schools, I thought learning dance could be more fun, so I opened Twinkle Dance Company.
Q: What is your company philosophy and how does it tie in with your beliefs about early childhood learning and development?
Twinkle: We provide children with good techniques and focus on how to build their characters and their personalities. We make our programs interesting to them and make sure they feel good.
we hope children can nurture a hobby that they enjoy.
Q: Why is it important for children to learn to express themselves creatively, either through dance, or other forms of art?
Twinkle: A child’s vocabulary is very limited but there are a lot of inside and subconscious expressions that are not easily expressed using words. Performative art provides a safe outlet for emotions and what the body is feeling in a universal language. The arts also help to develop their imagination.
Q: What have been some of the challenges of being a mother while being the founder and creative director of Twinkle Dance Company?
Twinkle: Work-life balance is a challenge for me as an entrepreneur with two young children. I remember I turned on my computer and started working in the hospital the next day after my c-section. Twinkle Dance is also one of my babies.
Q: What helps you stay balanced between your roles as a mother, founder, and creative director? What has been crucial for you in making it all work?
Twinkle: I do receive a lot of help from my parents. I am very lucky to have both of them in Hong Kong.
Also, time management is also important. I have a working schedule that helps me prioritise and stay organised.
Q: HOW DO YOU JUGGLE YOUR VARIOUS ROLES? DO YOU INCORPORATE DANCE INTO YOUR SON AND DAUGHTER’S LIFE?
Twinkle: Everyone has various roles they play. I prioritise my roles according to my schedule. When I am in work mode, I need to focus and take the lead. When I am at home taking care of my children, I focus on being a mother.
Both of my children take dance classes at Twinkle Dance Company and love to dance. I didn't show them how happy I was when I could see that they love to dance too, but inside my head, I screamed "YES!”
Q: How do you include sustainability in your daily life, as a mom, and as Twinkle Dance’s founder? Why have you decided to partner with Retykle to encourage the reuse of pre-loved dance attire?
Twinkle: I encourage my family, friends, and staff to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I am also more aware of the choices my family and I are making to be environmentally conscious. Especially with living in Hong Kong, I drive less and travel by public transport most of the time and make a conscious effort to live a little greener every day.
At Twinkle Dance Company, we are encouraging our dancers to give their outgrown outfits a second life with Retykle because children grow fast and they need to change dance attires from time to time, but they are still good to use.
Many of the classes offered at Twinkle Dance are geared towards younger dancers (as young as 14 months old) but they provide an educational yet exciting and safe environment to express themselves. Unlike traditional dance schools, they not only teach techniques of dance in a fun and innovative way but also care for each child’s feelings, and use teaching methods that are suited for all types of children.
The aim is for the children to enjoy dancing and discover how to express themselves through dance. Their philosophy is that dancing will not only develop a child’s physical skills but also social skills, confidence and focus. What’s more, their teachers are richly educated and experienced in many areas of dance and also care about early childhood learning.
To find out more about Twinkle Dance Company and their offerings, head to their website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Click here to reach out to someone on their team.
Leave a comment