Crossword Genius

Woman starting a dancing school (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ada

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'woman' is the definition.
(woman's name)

'starting a dancing school' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'da' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ada that I've seen before include "Programming language" , "Computer lang.; f. name" , "Computer language; girl's name" , "-- Lovelace, pioneer in computing" , "Girl's name, one letter short of a man's name" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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