If you’re a local resident, you’ve no doubt heard of Denville Dance and maybe have even had a daughter take classes there. This long standing Denville institution recently celebrated their 65th (!!) anniversary. Let’s get to know them a bit more.
Sixty five years in business is an amazing achievement – congratulations! What do you think is the secret to your success?
At our studio we are family! We try to make everyone feel like they are truly a family. It is amazing to see our alumni bring their daughter’s back to dance with us.
We know that the business was started by your mom, and you and your sister took over. If you weren’t running a dance school, what would you be doing?
I would be a gardener. I love flowers & watching them grow! When I’m not at the studio, you can find me in my garden.
The dancer grams are such an adorable idea! Any other new and exciting offerings on the horizon?
Thank you! That was the idea of some of our wonderful moms. Yes, we have some exciting things coming up this year & are already planning for next summer, but I don’t want to ruin the surprises. We do have a trip to Radio City planned. It’s always an exciting day.
There are a lot of dance schools – how do you set yourselves apart?
By leading with our hearts. My self & my staff really enjoy what we do. We put our hearts into our classes, our Holiday, our recital & all the other fun things we do at the studio. We work hard, but then we have a lot of FUN.
The pandemic has been challenging for all small business owners. What did you do to power through and stay open and in business?
We kept the dancers involved. We had them drive by the studio & many of the staff were there to wave to the kids. We taught classes online at first. The kids had a parade for me. We did our recital online. We had the Kona Ice truck come twice. We had online Fun Friday Nights where we had Scavenger Hunts, Dance Parties, we had guests on who told us about working in Disney, we had Disney Trivia night & our teacher, Miss Linda, a former Rockette, told us many behind the scenes tips & showed us her memorable. In the summer I taught classes in the parking lot. I did story time on line every Wednesday night, it was wonderful to see how many dancers would show up! The parents thanking us for doing what we were doing was true motivation.
Favorite part of owning your own business?
I love teaching the dancer a new step or dance move & see them finally master it! The smiles are great! I love all the colors & sparkles dancers get to have. But my most favorite part of teaching is the hugs at the end of class.
Denville Dance Arts Center
1 Hewetson Rd, Denville, NJ 07834
201-627-1440
facebook.com/DenvilleDanceArtsCenter
denvilledance.com
