Hey There

I was blessed with the gift of dance when I was in college at the University of Northern Iowa studying health promotion.  I was asked by the dance instructor to take part in a piece she was doing in honor of West Point Military Academy and the meaning of each fold of the flag.  I had never explored dance before but jumped head-first and fell in love with everything dance!!  I immediately began taking every dance class I could and later started working at the studio when I graduated.  I was approached by the previous owner to purchase the studio in 2008 and it's been an incredible adventure since then!

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When I took over the studio, I had the vision of creating a studio that was center on the family and that created a welcoming and encouraging environment for every student.  When I was growing up going through grade school, I never felt like I fit in because I was different from everyone else.  I never had a ton of friends, I always just felt like I was an outcast who really wanted to fit in but didn't want to become something that I was not.  I have always been independent, and determined, and someone who just wanted to prove the world wrong.  I never truly felt like I was a part of anything bigger until I found dance.  Dance allowed me to express myself in any way that I wanted and my individuality was accepted and celebrated.  Once I became a studio owner all I wanted to do was continue to build a community that felt like home to me.  I wanted to build a place that accepted all people and encouraged their individuality and gave them a place where they felt like they were part of something bigger!

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We have come a long way from first holding classes in a church community hall for a handful of students...to now entering our 20-year as the leading dance educator in the Cedar Valley!  We have two locations which allow students from many different communities to take part in classes.  We do several community outreach programs that offer classes to lower income families through the YMCA's and Boys & Girls Clubs.  We also work with local preschools to provide dance programming to their students each year.  Each year we take part in multiple community fundraising events that help support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, Dance Marathon and many others as we truly believe in helping others. Heinz Academy will always be dedicated to the individual dance.  We not only strive to develop incredible dancers but also to further the development of incredible humans.  Our focus is to create an environment that is positive, encouraging, welcoming and free of judgment.