MDS History.... 10 years!

MDS started as a Creative Movement class offered to my daughter, Paige, and other 3 and 4 year olds we knew. The third floor of the Halcyon Building was being used as a yoga studio and I approached the owners about renting the space for one afternoon class a week. After offering the Creative Movement class all school year I was given a second day allowing me to teach a toddler class for my niece, Sammy and son, Luke. This Saturday class introduced new families to dance and I realized there was enough interest to create Mathews Dance Studio. One more class was added to the weekday schedule and the Saturday classes grew.

During a family ski trip the second year, I began planning a recital to showcase the work of my young dancers. With the help of my parents and family, props were assembled, costumes were created and The Third Floor Circus was held at Thomas Hunter Middle School on Sunday May 7, 2017. Our show was adorable and our cast was young, so it was necessary to bring in Beth Brown and Haley Beatley to run backstage - and they’ve been with us every show since.

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Over the years the studio continued to grow. After agreeing to perform in our 2018 recital, Haley began teaching our first middle school classes. Our girls and boys programs continued to grow as my children and nieces (Izzy joined too!) continued to age out of the classes they were in. Each year I made sure I offered the classes for their age groups, plus the next one above them, allowing for a slow and controlled growth.

When covid hit the studio had taken over the third floor entirely. We were in the building five days a week with about 50 kids. Haley and I were still the only teachers, preparing for the spring zoo themed recital. The shutdown hit hard. We survived, only because our amazing landlords (Kat and Bronwyn) were sympathetic, working with us on rent, and we had a core group of parents who stuck with us and paid tuition for virtual classes. In person classes brought some relief financially, but were still challenging as we met social distancing and masking guidelines. Parents were not allowed to stay at drop off which really decreased our younger population. When we returned to some in-person classes with virtual classes our numbers had dropped to about a third of what we’d had before covid. ​

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The past couple years following covid have been busy with lots of growth and changes. Slowly our numbers returned and we were able to bring on Annabelle Morgan as a third teacher. We’ve continued annual recitals, starting with our 2022 Zoo recital, the show we’d had to abruptly halt two years before. Our 2024-2025 school year was our biggest yet. Kaylee Jones and Katherine Murphy joined our teaching staff, our studio offered classes five days a week and our spring recital “Hey DJ!” featured 90 dancers between the ages of 3 - 20.

As we celebrate 10 years, I am so incredibly proud of our studio. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our dancers at Mathews Dance Studio! ​