Thanks to extra-large interest this year, the LaSalle dance student Dans’Atout still has space for a few more students interested in taking ballet, modern dance, hip hop or tap lessons.
“All my hip hop classes were full, so I’ve opened another one,” said studio owner Melanie Beaudet. “My four year olds—we were 24 students, so I split that one too so that now we have space.”
If you’re on the fence, their website (www.dansatout.com) offers trial certificates, but you have to act fast. Beaudet won’t take registrations for students over the age of 10 after November because it gets too tough to integrate students into classes.
Students from LaSalle Comprehensive Community Highschool will have one last chance to consider participating this year. On November 30, the school will perform and have a booth during the “Make the Right Choice” event organized by the police from Station 13.
After that, newcomers will join the 220 current students in the school to prepare for the school’s public demonstrations the week of December 13. That’s when parents will have their first chance to see their children participating in a regular class.
Younger students can sign up after the demonstrations or as late as early next year. “The three or four year olds, I take registrations even in January,” says Beaudet. “Swimming lessons are over and the parents are looking for things to keep their children active.”
Ballet students at the school follow the Royal Academy of Dance curriculum, while tap and modern students follow the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing program. Both certificate programs are run out of the United Kingdom. Some years, examiners have had to fly in from overseas to test students who are ready for the next level.
Once students get the dancing bug, Beaudet says they spend a lot of time at the studio and many volunteer for community events on a regular basis. “Most of our students cross-train—they’re dancing easily 7 to 14 hours a week,” she says. “They’re really good.”
Near the end of the year, students start preparing for the school’s big performance in May, an event that Beaudet still finds bittersweet.
Two years ago, Dans’Atout’s founder Carol Bolster died of cancer on May 6, a month before the final show. “I’ve been her student since I was 5 years old, says Beaudet. “In the hospital, she told me ‘whatever happens, the show must go on.’ We had 170 students that year, so we had 170 broken hearts. They all performed and they did a fantastic job.”
Beaudet still misses her mentor. “I’m in my dream job. I wanted to be a dance teacher for as long as I can remember. When that became true, I wanted to own a studio. And my dance instructor and I always talked about me taking over. It’s just it was never anticipated to be this soon.”
