Discovering A Love Of Dance

After her first successful year in business, Dancexcel owner Gina Koch is adding exciting new classes and boosting her professional teaching staff so that no matter what age they start, any dancer can progress and stay at her studio for their entire dance career.

By: Beth Newcomb
Date: 08/04/2008
It’s a rite of passage that every parent with a young child faces—the exciting, yet often intimidating task of choosing which activities he or she will participate in.

Dance classes tend to top the list for many of us. In addition to teaching children confidence and poise, dance classes help children develop a love of the arts and a passion for rhythm and movement.

Deciding on dance class is easy. Deciding when your child should start can prove to be more challenging. At Dancexcel in Brunswick, owner and former professional dancer Gina Koch believes that a successful dance studio offers a range of programs for children of all ages—and that it’s never too early, or too late, to discover a love of dance.

Still beaming with pride after having just closed the book on her first successful year in business, Gina has turned her focus toward year two and increasing the variety of classes at her popular studio.

She’s also closed the book on another chapter of her life—teaching at Kidder Elementary. “I’ll miss teaching, but the studio combines everything I love,” she smiles. “I still get to teach kids, and I get to teach them how to dance. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Gina has been dancing since the age of eight and has been teaching dance for 10 years. She danced professionally with the Cavaliers’ Dance Team for a season and taught kindergarten at Kidder Elementary for three years. “Our instructors at Dancexcel have both professional dance backgrounds and experience teaching children,” she shares. “It’s one of the most important differences parents will find at our studio.”

An exciting new menu of classes is another.

“We’re launching our new ‘Mommy and Me’ class this fall,” she announces. Children ages two and three—along with their mom—participate in engaging dance moves together. “We encourage creative movement and imagination. Kids at this age just want to have fun and enjoy the concept of wiggling to music,” Gina adds.

“Some children just aren’t ready to participate in class without the security of mom or dad. We decided to introduce this class to accommodate them.”

Parents and children do all activities together as the teacher leads them through the class. “This is a great way to introduce a child to a group setting,” she encourages. “We focus on social interaction and expression.”

The pre-school class is for children ages 2 1⁄2 to four. This ballet-based style of dance is a perfect way to begin formal classroom training—independent of a parent. At Dancexcel, pre-school and kindergarten classes are offered in both the morning, afternoon, as well as on the weekends, making it easy for parents to coordinate busy schedules.

Hip-hop class has been a staple since the inception of the studio. New this fall is the boys’ hip-hop class. “It can be intimidating for boys who want to participate in dance, but end up in a class with all girls. This gives them a chance to move and groove in their own way, without feeling self-conscious,” Gina says. The class is open to boys at the elementary school level.

As your child moves through the classes offered at Dancexcel, it’s important to note that there are a variety of instructors to choose from, so he or she can be matched with the teacher who best suits their style. “And, classes are limited in size depending on style and age of the students,” explains Gina. “This ensures that each student is getting the personal attention they need to improve.”

In fact, in addition to Gina, all the other teachers are both professional and experienced, having danced at the college and professional level, and having taught children either in dance or in academics—something that Gina feels is key to the success of her business. “We’re able to offer the advantage of providing our students with teachers who have actual teaching experience, instead of high school kids teaching classes like some other studios do,” she promises.

For girls interested in pursuing dance instruction as a formal career, Dancexcel offers a student teaching program. “Teacher assistants are a crucial part of many pre-school and kinder level classes plus it gives the girls great experience,” Gina insists.

“We continue to expand and adding teachers is a part of that,” Gina emphasizes. “One of our instructors danced with the University of Akron Dance Company and another danced professionally in California for many years in commercials and music videos.”

Dancexcel also offers a state of the art facility with injury prevention “floating” floors. “Dance can be very hard on the joints in the legs if not done on the right surface. We made sure we had the best available to protect our dancers.”

Something your child won’t find at Dancexcel is the “cliquey”-type atmosphere that can be found at other studios. “We want everyone to know that they’re important,” Gina stresses. “We have many parents tell us about the happy experiences their children have here.”

And that’s why serious dancers all start on a level playing field when it comes to the Dancexcel performing group—scheduled to turn competitive in the fall. “Intermediate and advanced students can tryout in September,” Gina invites. “It’s definitely not too late to be part of our competition/performing group. The audition process is held in front of a panel of judges who will look at technique and performance ability. It is also extremely important that we find dancers with respectful attitudes and enthusiasm. Those who make the team will attend two to three local competitions and the great part is—it’s not about who you know, it’s about the skills you bring to the table.”

Dancexcel is located at 50 Pearl Road in Suite 102 in Brunswick. Classes include ballet, pre-pointe, pointe, lyrical, modern, jazz, hip-hop, tap, Mommy and Me, jumps, leaps and turns, strength and conditioning, boys’ hip-hop, and performing and competitive groups. The phone number is 330-273-5525, or visit the website at www.dancexcelstudio.com.

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