Gina Smith Hatch, Fitness Thru Dance instructor, Orlando Ballet
HOW LONG WITH ORLANDO BALLET: Hatch performed with the Southern Ballet Theatre, the previous incarnation of the Orlando Ballet, in 1994, and at that time was also brought on as faculty. She returned to the faculty of the Orlando Ballet in 2021.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF HIS ROLE: Teaching history, terminology, technique and musicality. Inspiring students and creating a positive environment. She also makes costumes, supplies props and writes scripts.
HOW HE GOT INVOLVED IN HIS FIELD: Hatch is the daughter of Colleen Collins Smith, a dancer, choreographer and teacher trained by dancing pioneers such as George Balanchine and Martha Graham. In her home, dance was a way of life, and Hatch began taking lessons at the age of 3. She was a member of the Hubbard Street Dance Company and moved to Florida to perform with Walt Disney World Entertainment. She was later a Radio City Rockette and the head choreographer for Universal Studios Orlando.
“Through movement, the soul speaks,” says Gina Smith Hatch.
She motivates students to find their own special language through the Orlando Ballet’s Fitness Thru Dance classes.
“When you are doing what you love, the fun comes organically,” says Hatch. “I get to know my students, as each dancer who moves is an individual. Having a common goal and respecting one another is what keeps the art exciting.”
Hatch started teaching at the age of 16, at the Colleen Collins Smith Performing Arts School in Provo, Utah, and taught non-dance majors at the University of Utah while in college. She has taught all over the United States and has created educational programs at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World.
In the program, Hatch’s students range from age 14 to 83. Not only is the music motivating, she says, but remembering dance sequences is great for the mind.
“Coming to a fitness/dance class is social,” says Hatch, “making this program exciting for adults. Ballet, as well as other styles of dance are extremely physical. Posture, strength and endurance are all achieved as you study the art of movement.”
Hatch attributes her success in the dance world to her mother, who taught Hatch the three Ds of dance: desire, dedication and determination.
“These three words help with all goals you work for in life,” she says. “With active use, success becomes a more attainable outcome. I have applied this to my training, education, career, marriage and family.”
The pursuit for excellence, she says, is ongoing.
