By MONICA JOSEPH
THE GOSHEN NEWS
DUNLAP —
The Music and Dance Academy has opened a new facility in Dunlap, offering music and dance instruction for children and youth of all ages.
The original Music and Dance Academy, formerly named DanceWorks, remains open in Middlebury.
The former Appletree Restaurant on U.S. 33, just south of Concord Mall, has been renovated and fitted with a reception area, two large wood-floored dance studios and a music studio upstairs.
The Kinder music class starts with infants and the dance classes start at age 2 and a half, according to academy Director Jayme Yoder. Jayme owns the two businesses with her husband Carlin. Instruction is offered in the majority of popular musical instruments, including piano, guitar and drums. Voice lessons are also offered. Dance classes are offered in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, cheer dance, acro dance, ballroom, lyrical and hip hop.
The classes are offered in various durations at various prices.
The academy also offers adult fitness classes.
Special events are also on the menu, Yoder said. Ballerina birthday parties can be booked, with children receiving goodie bags, a princess tea party and a ballet lesson.
“They do a ballet performance at the end,” Yoder said. Children do not need previous dance experience to attend.
With the enclosed courtyard, complete with fountain, outside the dance room windows, Yoder hopes to serve the community with a rental facility for wedding receptions or other events — indoors or out.
An open house for the new academy is planned for Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. Parents can check out the new studios and register their children for classes. Classes begin Sept. 15. For more information, call 875-9400.
