SECRETS OF A

SUCCESSFUL
STUDIO

THE DIRT
ON FLOORS:
Tips For Better
Maintenance

PROTECT
YOURSELF
The Bottom
Line on
Insurance

HELPING
L.A. DANCE
Dreams
Come True

A SUPPLEMENT TO &

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UP FRONT BY JENNIFER STAHL

EDITOR
Hanna Rubin

DESIGNER

Freshen Up
Amy Kelkenberg

RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Andrea Marks

PROOFREADING Vending machines may be a convenient way to sell snacks at the

Sonje Berg studio, but potato chips and Oreos dont make the best fouett fuel. Give
your machine a nutritional makeover by swapping out carb-heavy options for
PRODUCTION
Sondra Ferrone fruits and veggies. Fresh Del Monte Produce recently launched a new line of QC
single-serve snacks for refrigerated vending machines. You can now stock up
on specially packaged bananas, fresh-cut pineapples, grapes, apples, carrots,
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT &
GROUP PUBLISHER celery, and tomatoes. Prices typically range from 75 cents to $2.25. Each
Amy Cogan package contains 140 calories or less, and some come with low-fat dips like
212.979.4862
yogurt, caramel, or light ranch dressing. The products usually need to be
PUBLISHING/MARKETING replenished about once a week. For more, check out freshdelmonte.com.
DIRECTOR
Jessie Petrov
212.979.4872

REGIONAL ADVERTISING Eurotards

MANAGERS
Rebecca Breau, 212.979.4871
Dena Green, 212.979.4888
Fundraiser Program Studios
Dance studios always are hunting for financial can get
Laura Heffernan, 530.558.9025 5 percent
Sue Lincoln, 530.666.1406 support for youth companies and scholarships, of sales
Jessica Nowaski, 212.979.4853 especially in challenging economic times. So Eurotard
Brittany Wooten, 281.246.1602 has decided to help out. Even though the dance indus-
try has taken a hit, dancers are still shoppingthey still
need something to wear to class and in performance,
says sales and marketing manager Mia Holtzman. The 100
dance community has supported us for almost 30 years;
96
it was time to turn the tables.
CEO, Peter Callahan 75
This January, the company launched a fundraiser pro-
PRESIDENT & COO, Carolyn Callahan
gram that sends studios dance groups a cash donation of 50
SR. VICE PRESIDENT/ADMINISTRATION
& TREASURER, Anna Blanco 5 percent of their dancers Eurotard purchases. All studios 25
SR. VICE PRESIDENT/ FINANCE & OPERATIONS, need to do is create a profile on the Eurotard websiteand
Courtesy Del Monte; courtesy Eurotard

Gerard J. Cerza Jr. 15

encourage their dancers to visit it to go shopping. Once a
5
dancer places an order through the site, Eurotard servers
route it to a local retailer for pick-up. Then every three
months, Eurotard sends the dance group a check for
5 percent of all purchases on the site. The best part? The money can be used
Cover image: Students in class at
City Ballet of Los Angeles School. for anything youd like, from maintenance to scholarships to competition
Photo by Michele Short.
fees. Check the program out at eurotard.com/fundraiser.html.

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UP FRONT

A New D anc e
W ork out
Ex ercise options for the average adult are
often less than inspiring, but traditional dance
classes usually feel too fast-paced. So in 2 009 , for-
mer R iver N orth Dance Chicago co-artistic director
Sherry Z unker filled the hole with B eMoved. I
took my 30 years ex perience teaching dancers and
modified it to develop something thats easy on the
body but still artistically interesting, she says.
The class is less dance techniq ue and more of a
movement ex perience geared for adults who are
4 0-plus who may not have ever danced. After a
warm-up, students learn a combination in one of 1 4
genres, such as B ollywood, theatrical j azz, swing,
world beat fusion, gospel pop, or disco. To keep
them moving, the choreography is taught through
repetition and by slowly adding port de bras to
footwork, then easing into faster songs. Y ou j ust
let your body follow the teacher, says Z unker.
W ith nonstop movement for the entire hour, it
A BeMoved class: the
movement blends genres
like Bollywood and jazz.
makes for an ideal low-impact cardio workout.
B eMoved has already become a huge hit in
Chicago-area studios and is ex panding to other
states. I ts a great addition to studios schedules
because it brings in an entirely new demographic of QC
students, says Z unker. Anyone with dance ex peri-
ence can apply to become a certified B eMoved
instructor. Career Transition F or Dancers even
offers grants for former professional dancers to take
the two-day workshop to get licensed. F or more,
see bemoved-dance.com.

A J. Galt backdrop of a
Spanish town square

BACKDROP MAKERS
Backdrops and Scenic Design
By Charles H. Stewart:
charleshstewart.com
Backdrops Beautiful:
backdropsbeautiful.com

Set the Scene

Backdrops Fantastic:
backdropsfantastic.com
100
DreamWorld Backdrops:
backdrop-rentals.com 96
A great backdrop is like the cherry on top of a recital sundae it Grosh Backdrops and
75
Drapery:
enhances the entire ex perience. Seeing a great scene behind them can really draw
grosh.com 50
students into the feel of a production, says Brian Froehlich of J. Galt Design. Its also
J. Galt Design:
a relatively affordable and physically compact way to add atmosphere to a show. 25
jgaltdesign.com
Courtesy J. Galt Design; Cheryl Mann (top)

Grosh Backdrops and Drapery says that among the companys most popular back- Kenmark Scenic Backdrops: 15
drops are montages of images such as American landmarks, Broadway icons or even kenmark-inc.com
5
pictures of clocks. Recently, minimalist backdrops have also become trendy. The com-
pany notes that people seem to prefer simple designs now, and you can change the look from piece to piece
by adding different lighting effects. Froehlich, however, says studio owners find inspiration in J. Galts more
whimsical offerings some fall in love with a backdrop, then build a whole show around it.
Grosh notes that a backdrop completes the entire package, giving young dancers confidence. W hen they
hear the audience oohs and aahs at a beautiful stage setting, the dancers cant help but step up their game.

DNC11SS_004r1
 short bleed

Tiler Peck
Joaquin De Luz
Principals, New York City Ballet

Tiler is wearing: Premiere Shirring Leotard #341 and totalSTRETCH A46 Backseam Mesh Tights
Joaquin is wearing: The WENDY #246A totalSTRETCH Canvas slipper, the M400 Tee and M90 Tights
Photography by Ceren Salman 2011 Body Wrappers 1350 Broadway, New York, NY For a retailer nearest you go to www.bodywrappers.com

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UP FRONT

QC

Be the Next
Deal of the Day
When it comes to attracting new students to your studio,
online deal-a-day sites may have the answer. L ocal businesses are turning to sites
like Groupon to up traffic. K eri McL ean, director of State of The Arts Dance in CHECK OUT
L akewood, CO, has used L ivingSocial, Mamapedia and Groupon in the last year. THESE SITES
There are some drawbacks. The sites terms vary, but they may req uest at least a LivingSocial
50 percent off deal and take 50 percent of what you make. Still, your studios infor- Groupon
mation gets delivered directly to thousands of subscriber inbox es. Bloomspot
Just be prepared to add classes and bring on additional teachers if the offer is
Try It Local
wildly successful. Since the offers aim to encourage new students to re-sign at full
Mamapedia
price, youll want to make sure classes arent uncomfortably packed and customer
Facebook Deals
service isnt overwhelmed. Groupon warned us to hire someone j ust to handle the
Seize The Deal
phones alone, McL ean says. L ouisville Ballet School had more than 400 people 100
sign up for their Groupon deal ( $49 for a $140 class card) in January, says L eslie
96
W ilson, director of marketing and communications.
75
L BS tried to make the ex perience as user-friendly as possible for
new students by adding a special Groupon section to their website, 50

suggesting which classes might best suit newcomers interests, what 25

Photos courtesy Louisville Ballet School

to wear, and clear instructions on how to redeem the coupon. W e

15
knew these were technologically savvy buyers, says W ilson, so we
5
figured this was the best way to interact.
Newer or less popular coupon sites usually offer more control over
targeting a date for your deal to run. Its an inevitability that were
all going to use these sites as promotional tools, says W ilson, you
j ust have to figure out the best way to do it for your business.
Louisville Ballet Schools adult Pilates class (top)
and a jazz class.

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SUMMER 2012
NEW YORK CITY
18TH NATIONAL SEASON FINALE!
June 28 - July 5, 2012
Sheraton New York

SUMMER DANCE INTENSIVE

July 30 - August 12, 2012
LaGuardia High School, NYC

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Anthony Foster
uses Serato Live
software to tag
and mix selections
for class.
Dance Class DJ
How to select music that will inspire and challenge your students
BY JENNIFER STAHL
L ets face it: Hearing the same Chopin tune
plunked out on a tinny piano day after day never
inspired anyone in ballet class. Music has to be
more than j ust a means of keeping tempoif
thats all you needed, simply setting a metronome
would do the trick. The songs you select should
set the mood and energyand spark something
inside that motivates students to really dance.
Pump It Up (Gradually)
I t can be easy to settle on a particular song simply
because it offers the right tempo and length. B ut
think about the way it energizes the room. The
right music will change their proj ection, their
stance, their aura, says Carmela Z egarelli P eter,
co-owner of P rofessional B allet School in B elmont,
CA, where she teaches intermediate to advanced
teenage students. A plucky polka wont encourage
your dancers to lux uriously elongate their lines in
adagio, for instance.
Typically, energy should build over the course
of class. W hen I hear music for pli s, I want to
feel like I m in churchit should be very sacred,
q uiet, and introspective, says F inis Jhung, a mas-
ter teacher in N ew Y ork who distributes his own
line of CDs with musician Scott K illian. As you
get into more complex movement in the center,
DNC11SS_008r1
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QC
music that is more lively and rhythmic can give
dancers a sense of moving through space. B y
grand all gro, the song should be powerful
enough to help lift students off the floor.
Tailor It to the Level
W ith beginners, melodies that have a strong
downbeat often prove the most effective. Some
younger kids, especially if theyre not naturally
musical, dont actually listen to the music, they
j ust move, says Stefanie Truppi, who teaches stu-
dents ages 4 to 1 6 at Dianes Dance Academy 2 3
in N ewfoundland, N J. A heavy beat forces stu-
dents to hear the counts, training them to stay on 100
top of the music.
96
Once dancers get more advanced, try working in
75
music that might be a bit harder to navigate. P art
of a pre-professional ballet dancers training is 50
learning how to work with a variety of rhythms 25
and time signatures. Sometimes Jhung will even
15
have students do the same waltz combination
5
across the floor to a 3/4 and then a 2 /4 , so they
learn how to phrase the same movement differently.
Courtesy Foster
Make It Inspiring
Music is the not-so-secret ingredient that makes tech-
niq ue class about more than j ust doing ex ercises.
 Scholarships
Available
Nominate Your Star Students
Use the online form at
amda.edu/nominate
FOUR-YEAR BACHELORS
OF FINE ARTS and
TWO-YEAR CONSERVATORY
Dance Programs

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The music should fire up the imagination, says

Jhung, so students arent j ust thinking about what
theyre going to eat afterwards. However, every
teacher has his or her own way of doing this.
Jhungs ballet class CDs use only original composi-
tions, avoiding versions of familiar ballet varia-
tions or show tunes. I find that when dancers
dont know what notes are coming nex t, it forces
them to think about their phrasing, he says.
Z egarelli P eter, on the other hand, likes to inspire
her class by playing songs they dream of performing
to one day. Selections from Sleeping Beauty, for
ex ample, also offer a chance to give a
mini dance history lesson. I ts an WHERE TO
opportunity to talk about ballets they BUY CDS
should know and suggest some varia- Alvas, alvas.com Carmela Zegarelli Peter
tions to look up on Y ouTube, she says. Brio Recordings, demonstrates a step.

Z egarelli P eter also likes to surprise briorecordings.com

students by putting on something a bit Finis Jhung, prefers that approach. He keeps class
outside the classical realm, like finisjhung.com moving by using Serato Scratch L ive QC
Christmas music. Some teachers take Jay Distributors, software on his laptop ( which he hooks
this tactic a step further and grab atten- danceclassmusic.com up to studio speakers) . I t lets him cate-
tion with pop or hip hop for center Robert Long, gorize songs by beats per minute,
combinations. I t frees students up, rlongballetmusic.com length and genre. I can even type in
and gets them to really dance, says Statler Music, the commentary that somethings great
Truppi, whose students are mostly statlermusic.net for battements, then in the middle of
competition dancers. To them, ballet class search battements to have all
is dull and robotic, and they get very stiff. W hen I those songs come up, says F oster, who discovered
put on hip hop, all of a sudden it reminds them Serato through his side gig as a DJ. Anyone can
that ballet is about more than j ust doing the steps. download the software for free at serato.com.
Every teacher has his or her own preferences.
Come Prepared B ut most important is how song selections affect
Most ballet class CDs are formatted to be played your students. Says Jhung, P ay attention to what
straight through from pli s to grand all gro. B ut your students respond to, what perks them up.
dont be afraid to mix it up. Some teachers like to R emember that for many dancers, its movements
select their songs on the spot, depending on the connection to music that draws them into the bal-
mood of the class. Anthony F oster, who directs let studio in the first place. Q
Soleuniq ue, a youth company in N orth Aurora, I L , Jennifer Stahl is Pointes senior editor.
100

96
BEYOND BALLET
75
Although ballet class has particular musical guidelines, teaching other genres opens up the
floodgates to anything and everything. A few items to keep in mind: 50

1. Lyrics. Obviously, age-appro-
priateness becomes an issue when
songs have words. Even if youre
using a clean version of a popu-
lar song, keep in mind that most
2. Texture. Beware that most
Top 40 hits are usually simple 4/4
tunes with little syncopation or
dynamic variety. Try to mix in more
musically complex songs that layer
25
3. Popularity. Top 40 hits
q uickly enliven a disengaged class. 15
You see kids body language light 5
up as soon as they hear something
they know, says Foster. H e some-
Courtesy Zegarelli Peter

students know the ex plicit words
being covered up or altered. But
lyrics can also have a positive
impact: Foster takes care to pick
out songs with uplifting messages.
melody and harmonies on top of
the bass line and offer different
rhythms and meters for dancers to
respond to.
time asks students for music rec-
ommendations on Facebook.
W ell find out what theyre listen-
ing to and Ill get a whole list of
artists Ive never heard of.

10

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APA New
England
students take
class on a
Rosco floor.

Get More
Students at Steps on
Broadway leap over
Harlequin floors.

From Your Floor

How to clean your dance floor BY COLLEEN BOHEN
QC

Studio owners know that keeping floors clean
makes them last longer and protects students safe-
ty. Here are tips from some of the top floormakers
on the latest and most effective spruce-up methods.
Theyve come clean with all of the information
youll need to keep your studio floor in shape.
Stick to a Schedule
Though the techniq ues for cleaning vinyl and wood
floors vary, all dance floors need to be cleaned reg-
ularly. R andy Swartz, president of Stagestep
F looring Solutions, says studio owners should cre-
ate a set cleaning schedule. Consider how busy
your studio is, create a cleaning timetable, and
stick to it.
I nclude various degrees of cleaning in your
schedule. I n general, we tell customers to sweep
daily and damp-mop with a cleanser once or twice
a week, says G lynis F ranklin, president of
Entertainment F looring Systems. As far as timing
goes, studio owners should mop after their largest
ox ide ( the residue that tap shoes can leave behind)
per cleaning.
Scratching the Surface
Claire L ondress, marketing manager at American
Harleq uin, suggests mopping a vinyl floor with a
pH-neutral cleanser as directed on the bottle, then
mopping again with clean water and letting the floor
air dry. A string mop or a sponge mop with a
wringer is ideal for cleaning vinyl floors, L ondress
says. Dont use anything with metal or wool
because they can scratch the floors surface.
Strong cleansers such as alcohol, ammonia, ace-
tone, or bleach can be dangerous to vinyl floors.
Ammonia is especially harmful because it tends to
make vinyl floors slick, says Matt DeL ong, floor-
ing product manager at R osco. L ondress also 100
warns against using household cleaning products
96
because its difficult to predict how your floor will
75
react to the chemicals in those cleansers.
There are many ways to spot-clean stubborn 50

tap class so theyll remove the most aluminum marks like those left behind by shoes or tape. 25

15

problems. Here are key ways you 5

Courtesy APA; Steps on Broadway

BEYOND can stop soiling before it starts:

from condensation. Try leaving a
humidifier running overnight to main-
CL EANING K eep your H VAC-filters clean to tain your desired humidity level.
Keeping your studio floor clean
prevent dust from settling on floors. L imit the amount of dirt tracked in
isnt always about mopping,
sweeping, and scrubbing. You can Pay attention to the humidity levels by banning street shoes or laying floor
in the studio. Floors can become slip- mats at the entrance to your facility
control a number of environmental
pery if theyre too dry or too damp and outside the doors of your studios.
factors that contribute to floor

12

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Miami Contemporary
Dance Company's Ana
Mendez in rehearsal on a
Stagestep floor
Products With Potential
Sometimes you only need to look as far
as your own floormakers catalog to
find the products you need to keep
your studio floor clean or slip-resistant.
Here are a few products offered by
leading floor manufacturers:
Gerstung: Slip NoMor, a solution that
can be applied to vinyl or wood floors
to prevent dancer inj ury; it reduces
the need for dancers to use rosin.
Stagestep Flooring Solutions:
L ondress suggests RESOURCE BOX TapShield, a solution that can be applied to
hand-scrubbing the American Harlequin: tap shoes to keep aluminum compound from
harlequinfloors.com rubbing off on the floor.
area with a pH-neu-
Entertainment Flooring Rosco: All-Purpose Floor Cleaner, a pH -neutral
tral cleanser and a
Systems: flooradvice.com concentrated solution that can be mix ed with
clean nylon scrub- water to clean vinyl floors.
bing sponge. I t takes Gerstung: gerstung.com
a little ex tra elbow- OMara Sprung Floors:
grease, but it will usu- sprungfloors.com OMara suggests mix ing a cleanser like I .F .T QC
ally come off, she Rosco: rosco.com ( I ntensive F loor Treatment) with water in a spray
says. However, if it Stagestep Flooring Solutions: bottle, spraying a section, mopping it with a damp
doesnt, carefully stagestep.com dust mop, and then drying the area with a broom
apply a more abrasive that has been wrapped in a terry-cloth towel.
cleanser. W ith most vinyl, you can remove marks K eep flipping the towel over and pushing it over the
with denatured alcohol, but its really potent stuff, floor until it comes up clean, he says, then air dry.
says F ranklin.Test-spot a tiny area of your floor Certain cleansers can harm wood floors. The
before you use it, because you never know how bottom line for a wood floor is that you dont
something like that will react on it. Denatured want to use anything with ammonia or abrasives
alcohol evaporates q uickly and leaves a harmful because it can ruin the finish, says F ranklin.
residue behind, so F ranklin recommends mopping Spot cleaning is essential to keeping your wood
the entire floor with your regular cleanser after a floor in shape. As with vinyl, most marks can be
spot-cleaning session. scrubbed away by hand with a
B e careful when using mechan- TIP: Hiring a professional to clean standard cleanser. B ut, OMara
ical cleaning eq uipment on vinyl. your floors? Demand that they use a says, you can also get many rub-
Though most manufacturers say dedicated set of buckets and mops when ber-based spots off simply by
they can be very effective when they clean your space, to ensure that no rubbing them with a tennis ball.
used properly, they can cause a traces of the harmful chemicals they use Swartz says studio owners must
with other clients will touch your floors.
lot of damage if theyre not. be particularly diligent about 100
If they use a bucket that once had wax
W hen each floor is manufac- in it, it can be a mess, says Randy Swartz,
getting rosin off their floors.
96
tured, its finished with a uniq ue president of Stagestep Flooring Solutions. W ood is a porous substance
tex ture to create a specific 75
Unlike most other businesses, dance and rosin is essentially pine tar,
speed, says DeL ong. I f used studios do not want shiny floors. he says. Over time, rosin 50
Rodrigo Romero; products courtesy manufacturers

incorrectly, a mechanical buffer migrates into the wood and 25

can either fill in that surface or eat away at it. hardens, making it slippery.
15
B efore trying any new cleaning products or tech-
Whats Good for Wood niq ues, check with your manufacturer. And above 5

Dirt acts like sandpaper on a wood floor, says Ed
OMara, president of OMara Sprung F loors. The
dirtier the floor, the q uicker the finish wears off. He
recommends sweeping wood floors with a wide dust
broom on a daily basis. F or more advanced cleaning,
all: W hen youre cleaning, make sure the area is
well ventilated for your own safety, says
L ondress. I know its common sense, but I cant
say it enough! Q
Colleen Bohen is Dance Spirits managing editor.

14

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An Ounce of
Prevention
Tailor your insurance policy
to your risks. BY BASIA HELLWIG

A water pipe bursts, ruining your studio floor. A

dance student gets inj ured and her parents sue.
R isks like these are part of running a studio, but
smart insurance decisions can help protect you
against unex pected costs. Dont j ust automatically
renew the policy you have, but look at how you can
reduce your risks.
R eview the past year to see any pattern of acci-
dents or claims, and any corrective measures you
could take. G et input from your fire and police
departmentand local insurance agents. The
I nsurance I nformation I nstitutes Insuring Your
Business: Small Business Owners Guide
( www2 .iii.org/small-business-guide/risk-manage-
ment.html) offers online guidance on areas to look
at. I mproving your risk profile will pay off in terms
of the coverage available to you, and the price you
pay for it.
Several companies specialize in dance studio pack-
ages. Among them are Anthony I nsurance, F rancis
L . Dean Associates, K & K I nsurance, Markel
I nsurance, and Scott Danahy N aylon. To start, check
to be sure your policy includes these must-haves:
Commercial general liability insurance, to
protect you when you re sued by someone who claims you
caused them physical inj ury or damaged their property.
P olicies typically hav e $ 1 million per occurrence/ $ 1 million $ 3
million aggregate limits.
Accident insurance, which pays medical bills when a
student or staff member gets inj ured while participating in
studio activ ities.
Property insurance, which cov ers your building,
whether you own or rent, and the contents and fixtures of
your studio in the ev ent of fire, theft, and so on. ( A lways
check exclusions.) P roperty policies also cov er lost income
L.A.s Dance
for Kids
carries a
policy from
Anthony
Insurance
Make sure you drill down to find out ex actly
whats covered in the fine print, when and for how
much. Heres where a specialized agent can be help- QC
ful in going through various scenarios. F or instance,
does coverage follow you, including to off-site per-
formances and competitions? Annual insurance pre-
miums for a basic package can range from $ 4 50 to
$ 1 ,000 and up. Add-ons can tailor a package to fit
your circumstancesand budget. Here are a few
ex amples:
Francis L. Dean offers a general liability and accident
insurance bundle, but if you hav e an expensiv e sound system,
for instance, you can add what s called inland marine cov er-
age for this kind of mov able eq uipment.
Scott Danahy Naylon will add cov erage for accusa-
tions of abuse and molestation for no extra cost if you hav e
the proper signed waiv ers from students. It has a sample
waiv er and, like most insurers, can adv ise on how to lower
your risk in this or other areas.
K&K Insurance includes professional liability protec-
tion to cov er claims that arise out of rendering, or failure to
render: instruction, demonstration, direction and/ or adv ice 100
relating to the dance activ ity. Y ou can also add cov erage for 96
ev ent attendees who aren t registered students.
75
N o small businesss budget will cover insuring
50
against every imaginable risk, of course. B ut reduc-
ing your risks will give you the peace of mind to 25

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You can now utilize todays technology to manage your busi-
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Here are 7 steps you can start taking today.
Step 1 Create a website (if you already have one, keep
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customers the answers to common questions to save you and your
staff time.
Step 2 Publish your class calendar on-line. Display which
classes have space and which classes are full. Make it easy for your
customers to see if you offer the type of class they want on the days
and times that they want.
Step 3 Let your families and stu-
dents register online. Have your
customers enter in their contact informa-
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Link this into your studio management
system; itll save you time and help ensure
that you have accurate information about
your customers and prospects.
Step 4 Provide on-line class enroll-
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actually enroll themselves. Paul Henderson
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our new season in a little over two hours...
with absolutely no administrative effort on
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Step 5 Give your customers more information and more
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account balances and personal class schedules. Let them update their
contact information and answer their own questions; 24 x 7.
Step 6 Have your customers pay as they enroll. Introduce
on-line payment capabilities and automatic monthly billings.
Enable them to sign up for an auto payment program. This will get
money into your bank account quicker and reduce costs in invoicing
and collecting on overdue accounts.
Step 7 Obtain access to your studio information when-
ever and wherever. Use the Internet to connect to your studio da-
tabase. Then, you and your staff can manage the business from home,
the studio, even while traveling. If you run
multiple studios in different locations, an
Internet database lets you manage them all
from any location at any time of day.
Recently I woke up and found that 10
brand new students had enrolled and paid
for classes. It used to take about 20-30 min-
utes to register a new student because they
had so many questions. Now that they can
answer the questions for themselves on our
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018,20_Cavise_Studio11.prep.qxd 6/15/11 10:19 AM Page 18

Ballet classes are held

in Studio Two, on the
second floor. Left, Joe
Cavise in class.

QC

From Cats to Kids

Dance Cavise has made a broad menu the key to its success. BY MIKE SMITH

W hen Joe Antony Cavise hung up his Cats costume Mamaroneck, N ew Y ork, an affluent suburb. At the
for the final time in 1 9 8 7 to teach dance full-time, time, he remembers, there were three other studios
B roadways loss was students gain. Since then, thou- in the area; now there are about 30. Today Dance
sands of students have passed through his Dance Cavise teaches more than 500 students, including
Cavise, making the studio one of the most successful Joe and L oris two daughters. To compete with near-
in the N ew Y ork City areaand its all by word of by schools, the Cavises offer something for everyone
mouth. W hats the winning formula? I t starts with and all ages: a wide variety of disciplinesthe usual
Cavise himself, a dynamic evangelist for the power dance genres, and also P ilates classes, ballroom,
of dance. B ut the railroad station across the street voice and drama, even kickbox ing.
helps, too. The school is in a stand-alone building on the
A fit, compact man in his early 50s with the build banks of the Mamaroneck R iver, a glorified creek
of a collegiate wrestler, Cavise started dancing at with easy parking in a private lot alongside. Theres a 100
age 9 . He studied with G us G iordano in Chicago, garden walk and an outdoor patio overlooking the
96
earning his Eq uity card there in 1 9 8 1 . Then he river where students can eat in good weather.
75
headed for N ew Y ork. He hit it lucky, landing a role B ut six years ago the river turned nasty: A flood
right away in an off-B roadway production of Street filled the downstairs studios with five feet of water. 50

Scene. This led to an agent, which led to national F ortunately there were two more studios above the 25
tours and eventually to a leading high-water mark. The school also
15
role in Cats. After four years, he Being across the street houses a small but well-stocked
left the G reat W hite W ay to start from the train makes dance shop for students, Cavise 5

his own dancing school. it easy to get teachers B outiq ue, and a minimal self-serv-
from New York. ice snack bar.
A Class for Everyone The river adds ambiance, but
Mike Smith

I n 1 9 8 9 Joe and his wife, L ori, also a dancer, opened more important to Dance Cavise is the Mamaroneck
Dance Cavise in a three-story former synagogue in Metro-N orth commuter rail station, right across the

18

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018,20_Cavise_Studio11.prep.qxd 6/15/11 10:19 AM
Students use an outdoor patio in summer for snack breaks; Dance Cavise is housed in a former synagogue right
across the street from the train station; the studio has its own boutique, which sells branded dancewear.
street; its about a 30-minute ride to N ew Y ork City.
The easy train ride and brief walk from station to
studio means the instructor corps includes many
working dancers and choreographers with creden-
tials from prestigious schools and dance companies.
The Cavise Philosophy
U nlike some schools in the area, Dance Cavise
stresses techniq ue over competition. Students and
parents looking to enter the competition circuit will
probably find a better fit at another school.
Students are placed in one of three levels: A stu-
dents are those who come for fun. B students are
regulars who come back every year. Students with
serious dance aspirations strive to rise to the pre-
professional C level. They must show ex ception-
al promise and be recommended by one of the
dance teachers.
During the summer, Dance Cavise shifts to a
B roadway focus with a program that puts on shows
written, choreographed, and performed by students
of Camp Cavise, an on-site day camp for kids from
kindergarten through 8 th grade. The students take
dance classes, go on field trips to B roadway theaters,
and learn set and costume design while preparing an
end-of-session show. Camp Cavise is all about the
show, says Cavise. I ts performance-oriented. ( I ts
also a way to keep revenue coming in at a time
when many schools go on hiatus.)
The studio also generates additional revenue by
renting space to the general public for birthday par-
ties and other celebrations. Studio One, on the
ground floor, can be divided by a curtain to create
the effect of a stage, and the birthday girl can be the
star of her own show. Theres even a glitter ball for
atmosphere. The host provides refreshments and
20
DNC11SS_020r1
Page 20
paper goods, studio staff do the restthe party
package includes invitations and thank-you notes.
The Joy of Dance QC
F inally, Cavise himself has taken an active role in the
community: He believes passionately that anybody
can dance, and anybody can enj oy danceand he
proves it year after year with his Off Center Dance
Theatre. F ounded by Cavise in 1 9 9 1 , it has since
evolved into a philanthropic arts organization focus-
ing on community outreach. ( I t is a separate nonprof-
it based at the studio.)
The ensemble, made up of Dance Cavise students
chosen by audition, visits childrens hospitals, works
with childrens organizations like R onald McDonald
House, U N I CEF , and HEL P U SA, and performs at
annual fundraisers alongside professional artists.
This year, the OCDT I nvitational featured G abrielle
L amb of Morphoses, who performed a piece choreo-
graphed for the invitational.
W hile Cavise stresses that OCDT is a separate
entity from Dance Cavise, nevertheless when you do
good things for your community, good things tend 100
to come back to you. And it gives students a chance
96
to perform with a purpose beyond simply entertain-
75
ing their families and friends.
50
The Secret to His Success? 25
Theres no secret to Dance Cavises success, despite
15
its home in an area crowded with dance schools. I ts
5
a combination of a good location; a strong instruc-
tor corps; well-eq uipped studio spaces; and, most of
all, a dance master whos fervent about his love of
the art. I f Joe Cavise, like Mr. Mistoffelees, had nine
Mike Smith
lives, hed spend them all teaching kids to dance. Q
Mike Smith writes often on dance and business.
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022_CityBallet_Studio11.prep.qxd 6/15/11 10:24 AM
L.A. Angel
Robyn Gardenhires City Ballet of Los Angeles School offers serious ballet
training that crosses racial and economic barriers. BY JENNIFER STAHL
A taste of dance isnt what R obyn G ardenhire wants
to give underprivileged children. She wants to train
them to become dancers. Theres a lot of outreach
out there, she says, but its usually j ust a little dab
of this, a little dab of thatnothing that could possi-
bly prepare a child for a professional career.
G ardenhire herself grew up in a household unable
to afford ballet classes. B ut with the help of scholar-
ships, she received a full classical education, which
led to a successful career dancing with companies
that included American B allet Theatre, K arole
Armitage, and W hite Oak P roj ect. So after she
retired, G ardenhire returned her native Southern
California to try to make sure L os Angelenos of all
backgrounds had access to q uality ballet training.
Her City B allet of L os Angeles School opened in
2 001 in the heart of a poor, predominantly Hispanic
neighborhood in downtown L .A. I wanted to be
right near the kids so that transportation wouldnt be
an issue, she says. Students pay a flat monthly fee of
$ 2 0 or $ 2 5 to take ballet, pointe, variations, yoga,
modern, dance history, and/or fencing. ( Most of the
funds to run the school come through grants and
individual donations.) The school has a pre-profes-
sional program and an open program on Saturdays.
I n total, CB L A currently has around 1 50 students.
For more info on CBLA, go to cityballetofla.org
22
DNC11SS_022r1
Page 22
Gardenhire
leading class;
students at
the barre
QC
The schools 4 ,000-sq uare-foot studio is located in
the R ed Shield Community Center, which donates the
space. Although G ardenhire recruits the maj ority of
her students through local elementary schools, neigh-
borhood kids who use the community center often
peek into the studio and sign up for ballet classes, too.
G ardenhire would eventually like to develop a
summer intensive for her most serious students. I n
the meantime, shes enlisted Y vonne Mounsey from
W estside B allet in Santa Monica, who offers a hand-
ful of summer scholarships to G ardenhires most tal-
ented teenagers. These children need to dance, says
Mounsey. Even if the kids dont become dancers,
the discipline helps them in every walk of life. 100
G ardenhire hopes that one day the school will
96
grow into a training program for her company, City
B allet of L os Angeles. W ere still too new to have 75
trained any dancers for the company, but thats the 50
idea, she says. F or now, her students enj oy perform- 25
ing with the professionals in the yearly Nutcracker.
15
B ut whether or not the students continue dancing
after high school, G ardenhire sees a benefit from a 5
serious approach to training. B allet gives you a
sense of empowerment, she says. I t changes your
stance, and the way you are perceived when you
walk into the room. And it teaches you how to be
Michele Short
responsible. The kids learn that for whatever they do,
they have to show up, suit up, and try their best. Q
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