Monica Hannan and Allison Mcelfresh are the talented dynamic duo bringing a new dance studio, The Dance Coalition, to the Tri-State. Although living parallel lives as dancers their paths did not cross until a chance meeting interviewing for the lead coach position of the Turpin High School Dance Team. “We clicked right away over our love for dance and our passion to give every dancer the chance he or she deserves. Together, we mentor many dancers, all deserving of the best dance experience available, which includes diverse techniques, healthy habits, and a nurturing growth environment,” Hannan says.
Hannan and Mcelfresh both landed the position, now co-coaches, and it was not long before they realized dance was not the only thing they had in common: both had professional aspirations to open a dance studio.
“We had opportunities in the works of owning our own studios but realized we would be able to serve the community better as a partnership and thus, the coalition was born. We saw the importance of this opportunity and that to let this pass us by would be to ignore fate,” Mcelfresh says.
Partnership is a key component of The Dance Coalition and in this respect Hannan and Mcelfresh complement each other. Their combined list of credentials and experience covers both the business and art of dance. “Monica brings the business of competitive endurance and I bring the breath of artistic freedom. Together we’ve united in order to lift up the team [Turpin Dance] into their positive and ever-changing teenage lives,” Mcelfresh says.
Hannan and Mcelfresh’s feel their combined skill are what sets their studio apart. “What is unique about The Dance Coalition is our method of integrating superior dance instruction with classroom academics in order to build brilliant dancers,” explains Hannan.
The Dance Coalition will provide several different programs: recreational, competitive and sustaining dance that involve varying levels of intensity and training. The recreational program will train 1 to 2 hours a week. The competitive program is geared toward those considering a career in dance and wanting to compete in an elite arena. The sustaining dance program welcomes adults that may have danced as children or teenagers but have a desire to incorporate the art into their adult lives and offers classes such as Prenatal Ballet, Stroller Ballet, Ballerobica, Street Step, College Crew and Yoga Flex.
Hannan and Mcelfresh are quick to point out that The Dance Coalition’s education does not simply revolve around the physicality of dance it also involves the history, functionality and sustainability of the art. “One does not simply excel at ballet and become a prima ballerina at the New York City Ballet,” Hannan says. “If a dancer is serious about ballet, they understand the history of the art and have a solid grasp of the physics and strength behind it then he or she increases their chances of landing that dream role.”
The history of dance as well as the physics and strength behind it is exactly why The Dance Coalition’s curriculum has a weekly topic for every level, which builds as the program progresses. “Week by week, month by month, year by year, our dancers become more technically and intellectually sound, preparing them for a professional career in dance (if that is a desire of theirs),” Hannan says.
The Dance Coalition’s holistic approach requires a wide breath of knowledge for their students and this is reflected in the curriculum. “We encourage our dancers to learn as many genres as possible. Our ever-growing offerings of genres include: ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical and acrobatics. Along with these classes students can enhance their education by partaking in camps and workshops focusing on high school dance team and pom methods, musical theater, dance history, the language of dance, dance kinesiology, music theory and more,” Mcelfresh says.
The Dance Coalition Class opens August 2016. Class registration and schedule information will be available July 1, 2016. For questions until then you can email Hannah and Mcelfresh at thedancecoalition@gmail.com or visit their website.