Our Story

Hi there! I'm Miss Anna. I'm the co-founder and owner of Dare to Dream. 

My sister Noelle and I started dance at Morning Star Ballet in Omaha, Nebraska when I was 5 and Noelle was 3. We danced there until I was 9 and my family moved to Moorhead, Minnesota to help plant a church.

We moved in March, and dance became a fleeting thought as the whole family had to adjust to: living in an apartment, a different state, and not knowing anyone.

We might never have returned to dance.

But God.

Both my sister and I, quite suddenly, were filled with a desire to dance again. A friend told us about Messiah Dance Theatre, so we checked it out. And didn't leave.

For the next five years, we grew in our love and passion for dance, our roots digging into the studio. Pretty soon, both Noelle and I were taking two classes a week, and I was assisting in the Beginning Ballet classes.

And then . . . God called us to move again. To a little city in rural Minnesota that none of us had heard of: Braham.

I must confess I fought it. I was invested in my church, my dance studio, my friends that took three years to find. I was serving in Kids ministry every Sunday and putting together curriculum for our K-5 room.

But I chose to obey.

It may have been the hardest thing I had ever done.

And yet, within four months, I felt more connected to my church family in Braham than I had in four years in Moorhead.

My sister and I didn't want to spend another 9 months without dance. We searched for Christian studios around us, but when you're in rural Minnesota, apparently that's a feat.

After deciding that the one studio we found wouldn't be a good fit for our family, I mentioned - half-joking - to my parents that I should start my own studio.

They took it seriously.

That began a journey where my sister and I had to figure out all kinds of details that could fill a dozen pages. So I'll skip to the end. Our church agreed to let us use their building, and we decided not to charge anything for classes. We were 14 and 15. Who needed money?

And Dare to Dream ballet studio was born.

Out of a simple dream that I thought of as silly. But God took that dream and made it something I could never have imagined in my wildest . . . dreams.

But then 2024 came around. I had graduated high school and joined an online college-alternative program for writing and business. Noelle was in her senior year of high school and would be moving away to college.

With this new season, things had to change. After a lot of seeking (and wrestling with) God, I announced that I would be charging for Dare to Dream starting the 2024 Fall semester.

Dare to Dream is still a ministry, but no longer a free ministry. It is a ministry devoted to encouraging girls to dream big. It is a ministry devoted to showing girls that they are capable of more than they think. It is a ministry devoted to honoring and glorifying God with our actions and movements. 

Because God often calls us to do things that seem silly, impractical, and impossible.

But He can do way more with the impossible than the possible. After all, if it was possible, we wouldn't need Him.

Maybe God wants to awaken a new dream inside of you or your child.