Tonya Goodwillie realizes just how long she’s been teaching dance in Kent because some of her students are the children of former students.
“They are in their 20s and having kids and bring their kids here,” said Goodwillie during an interview Monday at the Allegro Performing Arts Academy along Central Avenue South.
Goodwillie, 34, started teaching dance at age 16. She has operated Allegro since it opened 15 years ago just a few blocks from its current location.
The 11,000-square foot academy has nearly 500 students and 20 teachers. Goodwillie started the business at a 4,000-square foot facility as the lone teacher with about 75 students.
“We offer creative movement classes for kids ages 1 to 3 and have students up to 75 years old,” said Goodwillie, who lives in Seattle.
More than 80 of the top students from ages 5 to 18 will demonstrate their hip hop, jazz, lyrical (a fusion of ballet with jazz and contempory), tap and other dancing skills at Allegro’s Burn the Floor showcase Jan. 16 at the Auburn Performing Arts Center.
The annual showcase gives students a chance to perform routines they have practiced since September. The numbers also are the same routines they will perform in competitions that start later in January.
“Everybody gets a chance to get on stage before the competition starts,” Goodwillie said. “It’s kind of the debut of numbers they learned in August and have rehearsed since.”
The show also raises funds to help offset the costs of competitions and costumes for the dancers and their families.
Adam Vesperman, 12, of Kent, will appear in several dance numbers at the Burn the Floor showcase. He practiced his routine Monday at the studio. He started dancing at Allegro at age 7.
“I started dancing around the house when I had some anger management issues,” Vesperman said. “When I started dancing, it gave me an outlet for my emotions. I feel like I’m alive when I’m dancing. If I was not dancing, I would be in a lot of trouble.”
Vesperman practices at least 12 hours per week at the studio.
“I’m here more than I’m at home,” said Vesperman who wants to become a professional dancer.
Goodwillie started dancing at age 3. She began teaching at age 16 at an Auburn studio that has since closed.
“I just got hooked on teaching,” said Goodwillie, a 1994 Kent-Meridian High School graduate who no longer competes in dancing as she focuses on her academy.
Allegro has a strong reputation across the Pacific Northwest. The Federation of Dance Competitions named Allegro the Best Studio in the Northwest for 2010. Allegro beat out dance studios from 11 states. Goodwillie traveled in August to New Orleans to pick up the award at the annual gala of the Federation of Dance Competitions.
“We’re hoping to be able to do that again,” said Goodwillie, who has a bachelor of fine arts in dance from the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.
Goodwillie said one of Allegro’s strengths involves its emphasis on many dance styles rather than specializing in one or two.
“I’m proud of our variety of styles,” she said. “The kids adapt to the many different styles. They are really versatile. These kids are good at everything.”
That’s one of the reasons Goodwillie expects anyone who attends the Burn the Floor showcase to be well entertained as they watch solos, duos, trios and group numbers.
“It’s going to be a fabulous show because of the choreography and the dancing,” she said.
If you go
What: Burn the Floor dance showcase
When: 11 a.m.; 2:30 and 6 p.m. Jan. 16
Where: Auburn Performing Arts Center, 700 E. Main St.
Cost: $10
Tickets: 253-813-9630 or www.allegrodance.com
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