She hadn鈥檛 been walking for too many years before the dance bug sunk its teeth into Deborah Cameron.

And well before she hit her teens, she鈥檇 mapped out a career path that would allow her to follow her passion for decades to come.

鈥淚 was nine when I decided I was going to teach dance,鈥� said the 91原创 woman, who in 2011 is marking 40 years as a ballet and modern dance instructor.

Even at such a tender age, the choice was clear. That is to say, there wasn鈥檛 really a choice at all.

鈥淚 loved the dancing, but I also enjoyed the process of passing along (the knowledge),鈥� she said.

Although she鈥檇 already been helping out beginning dancers for years, Cameron registered her first official student shortly before her 17th birthday and never looked back.

鈥淎t 16, I got the opportunity to take over the classes of a teacher who was leaving,鈥� she explained.

Only one of that teacher鈥檚 students signed up for her class, so Cameron advertised again and ended up with 11 students in her first session in a rented room at the old Odd Fellows Hall on Eastleigh Crescent.

Four decades later, she can picture many of her charges鈥� faces, but can鈥檛 say exactly how many students have come and gone over the years.

鈥淚鈥檓 not a numbers counter. I remember the individual personalities,鈥� she said. 

And they, it seems, remember her, too.

Last year, that very first student who signed up for the 16-year-old teacher鈥檚 class, walked through the doors of Cameron Academy of Classical Dance in Willoughby, to sign up her home-stay student.

Cameron had opened her own studio in 1988 after starting her teaching career at Ballet Horizons (which would eventually become Ballet B.C.). She spent three summers on scholarship at Jacob鈥檚 Pillow 鈥� a dance academy in Becket, Mass. where she was introduced to a range of dance styles, from Indian to tap to jazz.

鈥淚 got a chance to be involved in genres I wouldn鈥檛 have been in Vancouver,鈥� she said.

The foundation of ballet hasn鈥檛 changed since the reign of Louis XIV, but while the basics have remained, there have been a few modifications, she noted.

Over 40 years, Cameron has seen the incorporation of modern dance into ballet and adapted her teaching techniques to reflect the latest information available in the science of kinesiology.

 鈥淚 love teaching, I love the interaction, giving what I can to them.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the passion has diminished.鈥�

The body, on the other hand ...

鈥淚 see a massage therapist regularly now,鈥� she said.

鈥淎s you get older, it鈥檚 hard to jump as high as you once did, and that鈥檚 a bit sad,鈥� she laughs.

In 2000, as she was demonstrating a move, she landed badly, tearing all the ligaments in one ankle and breaking a toe.

But the teacher has no regrets about the path she鈥檚 taken.

Having her own home studio allowed her to be there to put her two children to bed every night. It also gave them the opportunity to watch their mom doing what she loved 鈥� an experience that shaped each of them in its own way.

Her daughter Kelly, 20, is studying to become a dance teacher. 

Imitation may be sincerest form of flattery, but another one of the highest compliments she鈥檚 received came from her son, Scott. Now 27, he danced from the time he was four until he was 10 or 11, she said.

He once thanked her for teaching him to dance because it helped him to be co-ordinated in both life and in sports.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 nice 鈥� especially from a boy,鈥� she said.

Many of Cameron鈥檚 former students have carried on dancing, while others have used the skills they developed in her class to become more well-rounded people, she said.

Among them 鈥� 鈥淩espect for the art form, respect for music and for your teacher. 

鈥淵ou learn self-discipline and that you can achieve more than you expect,鈥� she said.

Dance also teaches empathy, Cameron believes.

鈥淲atching others struggle and, when they get it, the joy that comes.

鈥淲hat we learn, we take into the world.鈥�