Sacrifice leads Katie Downes Walker to Sussex Dance Academy

Growing up as the youngest of seven siblings, Katie Downes Walker was in an environment where family resources for extracurricular activities were limited. But when Katie’s mom took her to see “The Nutcracker” when she was just 6 years old, Katie was mesmerized and fell in love with ballet. Fortunately for Katie, her mom was determined to find a way to help her realize her dream. Her mom found a Russian ballet teacher in Dover, and while it was quite a sacrifice for her mom, she made sure Katie got there three days per week, plus weekends for rehearsals. 

Katie continued with ballet and other styles of dancing, from the age of 6 all the way through high school. After graduation, Katie moved to Philadelphia and then to California to pursue her dream of dancing. But struggling financially as a dancer, Katie was forced to put her aspirations aside, and she returned to Delaware to pursue a bachelor of science in nursing. 

After graduating from Wilmington College, Katie moved back to Philadelphia and started working in the cardiac step-down unit at Lankenau Hospital. She loved working with her patients, but the hours were very long, and when she went back to Delaware for a visit with her family, she learned about a new school starting up in Selbyville – the Southern Delaware School of the Arts. It just so happened the school was looking for an individual who could be both a school nurse and a dance instructor. Thinking back to her experience with school nurses when she was young, with many of them seemingly older and intimidating, she thought to herself, “Am I too young to be a school nurse?” But the opportunity to work at a new school as both a nurse and a dance instructor was too much to resist, and Katie started there when the doors opened. 

Teaching dance again gave Katie the desire to get back into it full time, and she began looking for space to open her own dance studio. She found that space in an industrial park off Route 9, where she started a summer camp in July 2002. When fall came around, she started offering classes. With 59 students enrolled, her studio officially became Sussex Dance Academy. With the risk that goes along with starting a new business, and the related financial struggles, she was able to supplement her studio business by again working as a nurse.

In 2008, she opened her studio in Midway Shopping Center, and she continues to maintain both locations. Today, including the adult Zumba classes she teaches during the day, her enrollment is up to 320 students. Remembering the sacrifices her mother made to provide Katie with the opportunity to dance, she pays it forward by working out financial arrangements with struggling families. 

One thing that has changed for Katie is her priorities. It wasn’t easy starting out and having to work other jobs to support her dream of having a dance studio. However, as Katie says, “If you love what you do, it’s not considered work.” But family comes first today. It’s also easier for Katie with a very supportive staff of nine dance instructors and an amazing office manager. And what makes it even more rewarding for Katie is that most of her current instructors were once students in the academy when they were growing up. 

Discussing the differences between her students in 2002 and today, she said the potential distractions are significantly greater. Between phones, social media and posting on TikTok, the attention span for many of her students is disrupted. And for dance, which requires a great deal of focus, that can be a challenge for both instructors and students. For other students, dance becomes a nice respite from the constant electronic bombardment of social media and text messages. 

Along her dance journey, Katie’s most rewarding moment was when the Sussex Dance Academy was able to put on its own production of “The Nutcracker” for the first time. Thinking back to that special moment in Katie’s life as a young girl, she hopes a little person in the audience will experience that same kind of spark and sense of magic. 

Asked about what advice she would give her 18-year-old self, Katie said, “Don’t be afraid of failure. In fact, success will almost certainly come from what you learned when you failed.” Unfortunately, Katie’s mother Jean isn’t here today to see her success with the Sussex Dance Academy. But Jean’s influence has always been there, imploring Katie to follow her dreams. And surely her mother would be beaming with pride to see what she has achieved.