Taking dance classes offers lessons far beyond pointed toes and perfect posture: it teaches coordination, develops fine motor skills, encourages teamwork, and provides a wonderful outlet to channel creativity and fun. For more than 20 years, Bellevue’s Dance in Bloom has been instilling all these values in its dancers.
“We start at age two-and-a-half,” shares studio director Destiny Smith. “That’s a really great age to help introduce the world of dance… not only how to dance, but also how to take a dance class.”
From toddlers all the way through high schoolers, Dance in Bloom offers classes in a range of disciplines including tap, jazz, ballet, modern and contemporary, and even some tumbling.
Destiny grew up dancing, and found herself in Nashville after her position related to the Department of Defense ended following September 11, 2001. She was seeking a new job, and ultimately landed in Middle Tennessee.
“Dance in Bloom had just opened, and I thought it would be fun to take some dance classes,” she shares. “After doing an adult jazz class and performing in a show, the owner asked if I would be interested in teaching a class.”
After a few years of teaching, the owner decided to pursue nursing and offered Destiny the opportunity to take over the business. The stars aligned, as she had just left her corporate job and welcomed her first child.
“When you’re already feeling all the things, dance gives you a way to express it and cope,” she adds.
Destiny has remained at the forefront since she accepted the position in 2007 and has since welcomed a group of 10 instructors with varied backgrounds who focus on their respective disciplines.
“There are a lot of dance studios where it’s just the director and the owner,” she adds. “We are a solid team, we work very well together, and we have very little turnover.”
In fact, a few of the instructors have been affiliated with the studio since they were toddlers themselves. Teachers Hannah [LAST NAME] and Maddie Williams each joined the studio at just three years old, and have now returned to teach at the studio as adults.
“I see the impact my teachers had on me when I was growing up, and now, I see the impact I have on my own students,” Hannah shares. “I see them grow not only in their dance technique, but also in their personal lives.”
Maddie adds, “Being able to work at Dance in Bloom as an adult is truly fulfilling my little ballerina dreams that I had as that 3-year-old that started dancing here. It is what I have wanted to do my whole life, and I am so grateful to work here.”
At Dance in Bloom, the fun isn’t limited to kids. The studio also offers a tap class for adults–it’s an open enrollment, open level class that accommodates everyone from beginners to seasoned pros. Adult tappers are invited to perform in the spring recital if they wish.
If you enjoy dance as a spectator rather than a performer, you can catch Dance in Bloom participating in community events like Light the Nations, the Bellevue picnic, and the revamped holiday parade this year.
Dance in Bloom
Dance in Bloom is located in One Bellevue Place and offers a range of classes for tiny dancers all the way through adulthood. Disciplines include ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip-hop, modern, lyrical, contemporary, and acrobatics and tumbling. Dancers participate in two performances annually: a winter showcase, and a spring recital with full-production event staging, sound, and lighting. Plus, you can find Dance in Bloom dancers performing at community events all year long. In addition to choreographed dances taught during weekly classes, Dance in Bloom offers an adult tap class, with all experience levels welcome.