Submitted Content

Des Plaines Park District celebrates Dance Room expansion

Posted February 25, 2019 10:00 pm

Submitted by Colette Plantz, Des Plaines Park District

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Feb. 9 at the renovated and expanded dance studio at 2222 Birch St., Des Plaines. Park board President Don Rosedale and park district Cultural Arts Supervisor Nancy Suwalski did the honor of cutting the School of Dance purple ribbon. Courtesy of Colette Plantz

With more than 50 years of dance instruction at the Des Plaines Park District's School of Dance, the program continues to grow. Along with numeric growth, the facilities have grown with it. This continued growth has pushed the park district to increase the dance space at the 2222 Birch St. School of Dance location.

Dance studio Room 101 was recently renovated and went from being an 850 square-foot studio to 1,700 square feet. The specially designed spring suspension floors are constructed to help prevent injury to dancers and are covered with a special vinyl floor covering. This floor was installed by an outside flooring company while the room construction and detailed design work was completed by the professional carpenters at the Des Plaines Park District.

The work began in mid-December and was completed early January. This was scheduled so that several ongoing performance classes would not miss a beat during the winter break. The finished project is a masterpiece in dance room architecture with beautiful oak details surrounding the dance space.

An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the School of Dance location on Sunday, Feb. 9. The ceremony was attended by park district board President Don Rosedale, Executive Director Don Miletic, park district Cultural Arts Supervisor Nancy Suwalski, and several School of Dance parents and dancers. Special event vendors were on-hand to enhance the event including the Randhurst location of Nothing Bundt Cakes along with professional photographer and former NBC personality Amy Aiello.

"This has been a very exciting season for the Des Plaines School of Dance," said Suwalski. "We are proud of our program and proud of the space we get to train our students in."

The celebration included free master classes instructed by Chicago based professional dancers and choreographers. Paige Fraser, a founding dancer of Visceral Dance Chicago and originally from Bronx, New York, and Joe Musiel, a principle dancer at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and also a New York native, both provided an afternoon of master class teaching that some of these young dancers wouldn't otherwise receive.

If you want to provide your child an opportunity to explore their potential in dance, please contact the Des Plaines School of Dance at (847) 391-5700 or nancys@dpparks.org.

Special treats and giveaways were available at the Des Plaines Park District's School of Dance ribbon cutting ceremony. Nothing Bundt Cakes of Mount Prospect donated samples and coupons to attendees. Courtesy of Colette Plantz

A look at the School of Dance construction site. Spring suspension floors are an important part of the dance studio's floor construction. These specially designed floors help prevent dancer injuries. Courtesy of Colette Plantz

Professional photographer and former NBC news reporter Amy Aiello took Valentine's dance shots and donated partial proceeds to School of Dance scholarships. Courtesy of Colette Plantz

Paige Fraser, a professional dancer at Visceral Dance Company Chicago, lead a complimentary Master Class as part of the celebration on Feb. 9 at the Des Plaines School of Dance. Courtesy of Colette Plantz

Professional dancer and choreographer Joe Musiel taught a free jazz class to several eager students. Musiel is a principle dancer at the Lyric Opera. Courtesy of Colette Plantz

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