Business Category Finalist of 2009 Leadership Award
Nolte Academy of Dance
Coralville
Nominated by Mark Nolte
Going into her tenth year owning the Nolte Academy of Dance in Coralville, Leslie Nolte has (to the chagrin of her accountant) always made the development of her dancers her number one priority, with a goal of allowing each young woman the power to find their inner confidence and achieve their dreams. To do this she has brought in world renowned guest artists and conductors to instruct and evaluate her dancers and works to provide them with various performance opportunities; both locally through The Nutcracker at the Englert (going into its 5th year) as well as Beauty and the Beast, and Alice in Wonderland, as well as touring her competitive groups across the Midwest.
As a result, many of her dancers have received national awards and gone on to professional academies / conservatories and many are furthering their education in dance at prestigious Universities across the country. Leslie always realizes that she is not only developing dancers, but young women. She has sought to not only lead by example as a working mother / entrepreneur who gives tireless effort to her students, but also brings in outside professionals to talk with her students about issues of importance to young women and how they can become confident adults.
She has gone beyond expectations to provide these unique opportunities for her students of all talent levels and has found ways to make dance available to those young women who would not otherwise financially be able to obtain a dance education. In doing this she has created jobs for 8 other women and allowed them to share their love of the art with the next generation. “Ms. Leslie” as she is referred to by her students, has demonstrated that a strong woman is one who selflessly works to create other strong women.