Miranda Gaensbauer

Instructor

Classes Taught: Foundations

Miranda Gaensbauer is a native of Morgantown, WV. She began dancing at the age of three and has been fortunate to train with teachers such as Robyn Naugle, Erin Alvarado, and Terrill Mitchell growing up. While in college and graduate school, she continued her training largely with Angela Dennis as a member of Alchemy Dance Project while also taking classes with Yoav Kaddar, Renee Nicholson, and others through the West Virginia University Dance Program.

After graduating from West Virginia University with a masters degree in aerospace engineering in 2015, she began working at the NASA Independent Validation and Verification facility in Fairmont, WV. She recently started a new position with Argo AI, a self-driving car company based out of Pittsburgh, PA. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, visiting national parks, hiking, spending time with her family, and cuddling with her cat.

The contrast between Ms. Gaensbauer’s varied pursuits is part of her personal philosophy.

“This took me a while to learn,” she says, “but I truly believe that life is best enjoyed in moderation. Too much of one thing is rarely better than a moderate amount of several things. For that reason, I chose to pursue degrees in engineering, but made sure that dance was always a part of my life as my creative outlet. I believe this helped me find my way back to Morgantown Dance several years ago while still being able to pursue my career in engineering.”

She also stresses the importance of hard work to students, saying “I believe it takes both persistence and patience to accomplish anything in life. I strive to teach with the same ideals — being persistent in the corrections and help I give the students each week, while also being patient and understanding that every student will learn differently and improve at a different pace. I also hope to create a safe space for students, a place where they can come and express themselves and learn and grow and be proud of their improvements and accomplishments. As a teacher, seeing the excitement of students taking the stage for the first time or finally accomplishing something they’ve been working on always makes me proud.”