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Contact Information
Contact Johannah and Vicki for openings at 717-796-9866 Ext. 120, 717-796-6010 or fill out the form below:
Classes are currently held at:
After 5:30-
1451 Clark Street Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Before 5:30-
1516 Woodcreek Dr. Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
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Johannah Clark
Ever since I was six years old, I have wanted to be a dance teacher. It was being able to hear, feel the music and then express what I felt through the motion of my body, which intrigued me most. I would sit and watch movies that had any type of dance movement, try to learn it, and then imitate the steps. It was after a few years of doing that my parents new this desire was not going to pass, but only increase. They enrolled me into my first dance class at the age of 9 and I haven’t stopped dancing since.
My passion to dance grew year by year. I came alive in every dance class I took. I knew there was something different in me then in the other students I danced with because I did not just care about performing. It was a whole lot more. Whenever there was a dance choreographed I did not care where I stood or what dance move I was told to do because my heart was put into anything and everything I was taught. I would watch other dancers that might have gotten the “harder” piece and I would go home and practice it. I would practice in my driveway, grocery store, backyard, play ground, parking lots, my kitchen and bedroom. Basically anything that had a floor I couldn’t help but to practice dance. I would not do this to become the “best dancer” in the school, but I honestly did it only for myself in hopes one day to give the training I learned away to many other students of my own.
I studied dance at many different studios and schools. My first three years of training was at Dance Project in St. Louis, Missouri. It was a smaller studio, but I felt it was a good place to get started. I excelled very fast in the school and was able to travel in their travel dance group to different events and perform different dance numbers. I studied ballet, point, jazz and tap. I took what I was learning out of the dance school and put together different dances for different age groups at the church I attended. I taught about fifteen different girls and choreographed about ten dances by the age of thirteen. I knew I was ready to move on to a bigger school with more intense training, if I was going to do this for the rest of my life. I then joined a larger studio called Studio C. This studio had about 1,000 students and has grown to almost 1,500 to this day. I studied ballet, jazz, point, lyrical, character jazz, and I made the competition line. I danced there for four years. My heart came alive most in those four years of my dance training. This studio pushed me to become all I could be and no less. I would dance five nights out of the week and all day on Saturday I would be practicing for all of the competition dances. By my third year of dancing there I was in seven different competition groups along with my regular dance classes, such as ballet/lyrical and jazz/tap. The choreography was amazing and the loving spirit that was given away was so cherishing. I know in opening my own dance school I would love to have a lot of the traits I learned from that dance school. A place where students can come and forget all of their cares in their life and feel so loved. Where one can dance there heart out and leave feeling like they are the most amazing person in the world.
I then moved to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania at the age of fifteen. I had high hopes that I would find a dance school like the former school I had just come from. After four years of trying out other schools I never was able to find a school like Studio C. I did take dance lessons from a few dance studios, but I never felt the spark or challenge that I had before. When I was not taking dance lessons I practiced dance steps and choreography in my dance room in the basement of my house.
I then enrolled at the age of eighteen in the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. I learned some of the best technique in ballet. I danced five nights out of the week, which added up to twelve hours of dance a week. I also took private ballet lessons on Sunday. I soaked in every teaching technique of ballet. I knew that I did not want to open a school like this one but I did want to have the background and training drilled in me.
At the age of twenty, I moved back to St Louis, Missouri. I was an intern at Studio C. I taught ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, pre-school and poms. I was at the studio from Monday-Saturday. I was able to pour into others lives and see the beauty of dance come alive in the students. I also had private lessons twice a week and took three classes at the school to further my education in choreography. I went to many competitions and was able to see all the many winnings from the dances I had helped teach. I knew this was exactly what I wanted back in Pennsylvania.
At the age of twenty-one, I started Dance Revelation in the basement of my house on November 12, 2007. With little advertising, I had fifty students register. Over half of my original students will be coming back this year. My studio is now located in the Rossmoyne Business Center in a brand new building. The studio has top of the line sprung Harlequin flooring, surround sound with mounted speakers, two large studio rooms, and a comfortable waiting area. I have worked with various painters and decorators to create a unique space with vivid color and motivational phrases to create a positive atmosphere for my students. This will be the first full year in the new studio, and I am excited to see my class sizes grow in the larger space. I am looking forward to seeing how my journey to becoming a dance teacher will turn out. I hope to grow and within a few years be able to offer competition classes. Until the school is able to do that I am going to offer a lot of different types of classes that one will not find around this area. I want to create a safe and loving environment. I hope that many people in this area will consider in enrolling into this school of dance.
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Sarah ThomasMuch of my experience comes from my extended travels around the world and my exposure to various cultural dance forms. My desire is to inspire others to release their creativity through dance. |
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