More offerings at expanded Elgin dance studio

Two veteran teachers of the former Gould Academy of Dance Arts in Elgin bought the business and have relaunched it under a new name and expanded mission.

Kelly Hill and Elisabeth Stonebreaker McCoy co-own Integrity School of Dance, which features 15 instructors and caters to students ranging from age 2 to adults. Hill is the artistic director and runs the ballet program; McCoy is the business director and teaches tumbling.

Hill and McCoy will host a grand opening at 2 p.m. Sunday at the studio, 723 W. Chicago St.

There are a few new things at Integrity, including a Zumba class and online registration, and Pilates classes might come soon, they said.

“For the most part, a lot of it is the same because all the teaching was terrific at Gould,” Hill said.

McCoy said they want to offer more classes to beginning teenagers.

“We’d like to have two avenues: A focused avenue for serious dancers that might be in a company, and also another avenue that’s more recreational.”

Hill, who also runs the dance program at Larkin High School, taught at Gould Academy for 27 years.

McCoy trained at Gould from age 12 and taught there for 13 years. Both women were born and raised in Elgin.

“I was ready to pursue other things, and it worked out terrific, timing-wise,” said Hill, a former professional dancer for River North Dance Chicago. She also taught for eight years at a studio in Naperville.

“We are good friends, that definitely helps,” said McCoy, who had a cheerleading scholarship to the University of Georgia.

Former owner Donna Gould Jessen, who bought the dance studio in 1983, said it was time to pursue other interests, although she continues to teach tap classes at Integrity.

She started a real estate and property management business in the fall, and is planning to write a children’s book about dance.

“I am still very busy. There’s just some other things I’m doing. I have goals and dreams,” Gould Jessen said.

Earlier this year, the new business partners called the dancers and their families to let them know about the upcoming transition.

“A lot of people don’t like change, and a lot of people were very excited. We saw both sides,” McCoy said. “Things are going very well. We had over 80 students at our summer camp (in July). That’s more than usual.”

Hill said they plan to expand the studio in the future.

“It feels terrific,” she said. “It’s wonderful, it’s overwhelming, it’s everything I expected it to be. It feels like home.”