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| Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Local dance studio gets new teachers
Published August 10, 2009
Things are changing at the Melanie Varner Dance Studio in Scottsboro.
Varner has hired two new instructors who will bring their unique styles and knowledge to the studio, and beginning this fall, will offer new dance classes that will offer fun for all ages.
Michelle Shay is a mother of two wonderful boys, who spends her spare time singing, dancing, acting, teaching, directing and choreographing shows.
She was the theatre dance teacher for nine years at Booker Visual and Performing Arts High School in Sarasota, Fla., where she helped to mold such notable performers as Syesha Mercado of “American Idol” fame. Shay has performed in professional productions of “Grease,” “A Chorus Line,” “Crazy For You,” “She Loves Me” and “State Fair.” She also choreographed the shows “Will Rodgers Follies,” “Arabica,” “How To Succeed in Business” and “An Evening with Rodgers and Hammerstein,” as well as directed the Sarasota Youth Opera “Brundibar.”
“I am thrilled to be here in Scottsboro and really enjoyed helping Melanie at the dance camp this summer,” Shay said. “I look forward to working with all the great talent in this area.”
Sarah Carlson was raised in Huntsville, where she took various ballet, tap, theatre and other dance classes since age 7. She graduated from Grissom High School in 1997 with an advanced diploma and graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in history (emphasizing secondary education) and a minor in psychology.
While at BYU, Carlson studied ballroom dancing and performed two and a half years for one of the ballroom dance teams. She also taught ballroom classes in Chattanooga, Tenn. while her husband was attending graduate school.
Carlson has medals exams for Gold Social Dance, Silver Latin and Silver Standard. She has been married for 10 years and has four children.
Varner said the new teachers helped with a summer dance camp she held recently. Students at the camp danced their own version of “The Princess and the Pea.”
With the arrival of the new instructors, Varner said she will be able to offer new classes in the Waltz (international and social), Foxtrot (international and social), ChaCha (international and social) Swing, Quickstep,Viennese Waltz, Samba, Mambo, Paso Doble,Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing and Rhumba. She said the new classes will be in addition to the basic tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop and acrobatics classes she already offers at the studio.
“One thing my dance teacher always taught me is that its important to be a well-rounded dancer,” Varner said.
She added the new additions benefit the program for students to be able to take all sorts of dance classes.
Another new class the studio will offer this year is ballroom. Varner said since the show "Dancing with the Stars" began airing years ago, she's been getting calls about ballroom dancing.
"I didn't feel I had the right training or teachers (before), but I do now," she said.
Varner said the ballroom dance classes will be available for people of all ages, but said adults should have a partner for the classes.
Registration for fall will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11 through Thursday, Aug. 13, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 15 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
For more information or to register for classes, contact Melanie Varner by calling 259-2839.
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