Studio offers beginners chances to learn new styles

Students longing to move like those on reality shows may find a new outlet in St. Louis Park to express their inner “Dance Mom.”

The Park Dance Center, located at the corner of Louisiana Avenue and Oxford Street opened this September and offers classes ranging from tap and hip hop, to jazz and ballet for preschoolers through adults.

Owner and Park gymnastics coach Gretchen Vandeputte said her desire to open a new center came from her experience in dance and close relationship to the community.
“The reason I chose St. Louis Park is because I have been the coordinator for the youth gymnastics program and the coach for the high school team for over 12 years,” Vandeputte said. “There was a need for a quality dance studio in the community.”
Freshman Kelli Cook takes ballet classes at the studio and said it offers a more relaxed environment with fewer students than at other centers.
“(The class) doesn’t seem as strict,” Cook said. “I like how small the classes are because it’s easier to focus on fun things.”
Senior Erica Frey has never taken a dance class before and said she agrees the studio offers a calmer setting with many opportunities for those who don’t know how to dance.
“(The instructor) doesn’t make you feel like you’re too behind or anything. She repeats things a lot until you really get it down,” Frey said. “I think (the dance studio is) really good especially for people who have never taken dance before because it’s not a super professional dance studio, but there are really good teachers there.”
While senior Emma Walker said more advanced students like herself might have trouble taking classes at the Park Dance Center because higher-level studios worry their students will receive advice that contradicts their own recommendations, Walker said she thinks the studio will offer new ways for kids to get involved with dance close to home.
“It will get a lot more people, especially younger girls into dance because I have to drive to Champlain every day to dance,” she said. “There aren’t that many dancers that go to Park. Having a studio close would help generate a lot of new participation.”
While the center offers experience for those just learning to dance, Vandeputte also said she thinks the opening of the studio will help kids find new ways to express themselves in a convenient location.
“The entire staff believes dance is a lifelong skill that you can enjoy from when you’re young to much older,” she said. “It’s an outlet and a lot of dancers have to go far for dance and we want them to be able to dance in their own community.”