Ampersand Academy of Dance & Performing Arts #ThinkGardinerFirst

“I think as a studio, we do things a bit differently than maybe others would. Technique is incredibly important, but all of us teaching here also realize that dance is different for each individual. We have a mixed set of students here with some who are here just for fun and purely recreational reasons and then we have some that might want to put in that extra time and effort to pursue dance as a career. Whether it’s Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Bollywood, Acro, Acting, or Pointe, our goal is to give them the training and technique that they need to take their dancing wherever they want to go with it – It could just be dancing around their house or auditioning for a Broadway show. To us, our success is defined by providing a positive experience and creative outlet for our dancers and seeing growth in their skill set, confidence, and self-esteem.

We take a really creative approach to how we present our work too. We have two shows a year, one at Christmas and one in May. Our shows aren’t hours long and they don’t require expensive or fancy costumes. Instead, we focus on a story to tell and hope they carry a purpose. It’s not just individual pieces of dance that are put in order, but each piece works together to create a single performance for the audience to enjoy. We want to have the audience on the journey with us and in that way, I think it makes it more enjoyable for both the kids and the parents. Because we weren’t able to do a live performance this year at Christmas, we ended up creating a movie and calling it “Miracle on Water Street,” where we filmed dances all around Gardiner and put it all together. I am excited about our spring show and have decided on a title, “Midnight at the Haunted Mansion,” but I still have plenty of details to work out. I’m really hoping for an in person performance again, so I’m working on finding venues that might allow for a series of smaller performances.