Confidence & Choreography

Hi, I am Jada Milhouse, and I am a 1st-year at George Mason University. I've been working at ETC since I was 16 as a choreographer. My start was actually quite funny in retrospect. My old middle school dance teacher sent me an email telling me to act right away and that there was a job opportunity to teach dance. Coincidentally, I was at a team banquet for the dance team at my high school. I was in shock. Somebody was presenting me with the opportunity to dance, create dances, and teach for money? I called my mom immediately. She was about to board a flight, and she said, “Just do it, you don't know what could happen. I barely checked my schedule, but I knew I had to put myself out there no matter what. When people ask me how I got my job, I always say I applied on Thursday, interviewed on Sunday, and was at work on Tuesday. My interview with Katie was probably the nicest interview I've ever had. I started as a choreographer for one of the Main Stage Residencies at Tuckahoe Elementary School. I had an amazing time in my 1st year. It was incredibly surreal after working with the kids for a couple of months to see my name on the byline, not inside, but on the front page: Choreography by Jada Milhouse. I felt so adult and so cool to have my name there. 

I've been working with ETC for almost 4 years now. I unfortunately never had the opportunity to be a camper with ETC, and I wish I could have. I did many other camps as a kid, such as Camp Arena Stage or Encore during school, but there is no program that I can say does as good a job of tending to the students’ needs and innate creative abilities as ETC. They stress the importance of providing students with the foundational tools of acting, film, or dance, as well as letting them create new ones for themselves.

From this strategy, I have seen the silliest and most profound work from K through 12.

The reason I keep coming back to ETC is the people. I always felt very grateful when I compared my job experience to my peers, especially in high school, where they would say they disliked their bosses or coworkers, and I never felt that way. I had an amazing boss and amazing coworkers who always supported me, and I never felt belittled as a teenager working with older professional teaching artists, as I was now a new professional teaching artist.

ETC has provided me with a surplus of mentors who have given me both direct and indirect advice on how to be a better teacher and even a better artist. However, my biggest mentor is Nigel Rowe. Nigel was my first Camp Director after my first residency. I was new to being a camp counselor and nervous, but all of that faded as soon as I met Nigel. He understood that I was nervous, but he prepared me for this, even if I didn’t realize it. Of course, I was working, but I remember coming home from my first day telling my dad how fun my first day at camp was, how my coworkers were wonderful, and how I couldn't wait to go back. Working at camp has become a tradition of sorts for me. I always knew that once I ended a term at school, I would get to spend at least four weeks of my summer being silly with my super cool coworkers and the most creative kids. 

To me, ETC means family. ETC was my first real job, and I'm immensely grateful that they offered me the opportunity to become a professional at such a young age. ETC is one of the reasons why I decided to go to George Mason, study education policy, and even extend my experience to working with George Mason’s Center for the Arts. Arlington does a great job with its school system; however, as a student and a teaching artist in schools, I was able to identify some of the gaps and felt responsible for doing my best to address them. I've always been a leader, but this opportunity allowed me to challenge myself and grow in the best possible way. It made me more comfortable acting professionally and knowing how to best communicate with someone who is five years old or 45 years old.

ETC taught me the value of community and how we can come together through art. ETC has given me mentors, friends, and a creative family that I wouldn't change for anything.

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