A group in town called the Healdsburg Dance Collective, founded by four ex-pro dancers early last year, is finally opening their own physical space after a year-and-a-half of working with other fitness studios in town to offer classes, rehearsals and performances.
And it sounds like a pretty idyllic setup: The collective’s new dance studio will be located inside a converted barn on the Dragonfly Farm & Floral property on Westside Road, everyone’s favorite local flower emporium.
The Healdsburg Dance Collective will host a “studio reveal” and fundraising event to help with finishing touches (like specialized floors and barres) from 4-7pm on Saturday, Sept. 7, at the farm. The event will include a cocktail hour; a silent auction; food by the Downtown Bakery, Pizza Degan and the Spinster Sisters; wine from Arnot-Roberts and Anthill Winery; and performances by the local UPside Dance Company. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for kids — except for kids currently enrolled in Dance Collective classes (and their siblings), who can attend for free. “They are invited to wear their favorite twirly, sparkly dance wear and try out their own moves in the new studio!” organizers say.
Here’s some background from a Healdsburg Dance Collective press release on how the partnership with Dragonfly came into being:
HDC has been working with Dragonfly owner Carlisle Yuill-Thornton to add new floors, climate control, mirrors and a sound system to the barn on the treasured Healdsburg property. Ms. Yuill-Thornton saw the collective’s annual show at The Raven in March and heard the call for more danceable spaces in town, generously stepping forward to help build out the space and giving the local dance advocacy organization access for dance and movement classes.
HDC Co-Founder and Manager Erin Meyers says, “We’re thrilled to be able to offer teachers and students a new space for dance classes in prime time slots. These times are not typically available to independent dance teachers renting at other locations in town, those schedules are filled with classes by the primary businesses.”
That said, Dance Collective leaders are also still teaching classes at other studios in town, too — specifically, The Studio on Center Street, the Parkpoint Health Club on Foss Creek Circle and Yoga on Center’s brand-new location in the Mill Street shopping center. (Which just opened earlier this month, and will also host UPside Dance Company rehearsals.)
“Inspired by the new spaces and wide-open schedules, Healdsburg Dance Collective is ambitiously seizing the opportunity to create a cohesive HDC Dance Program,” the collective’s press release says — “layering styles, ages, and levels in classes across the four studios, to start September 3rd.”
More from the release:
Teachers will include HDC Co-Founders Gianna Davy, Greta Schoenberg, Tanya Knippelmeir, and UPside Dance Company member Courtney Jansen. Instructors will remain independent, accepting payment directly from students, but will benefit from a collaborative HDC platform. The Collective will help with shared marketing, a central registration form, standardized pricing, and bulk discount passes so dancers can flexibly take advantage of multiple offerings. The current teacher slate will initially offer ballet, contemporary, and jazz, but the Collective, with their stated mission of dance advocacy, hopes to diversify and expand classes over time.
Through their online Community Dance Calendar, HDC will also continue to support and inform Healdsburg of other local dance classes or events that are not part of the HDC Dance Program.
Ms. Meyers says, “Launching a full dance program is a huge leap of faith! It’s a small town with a limited pool of local students, but we hope that if we build it, they will come, even from neighboring towns, adding value to Healdsburg’s creative economy.”
