Don’t let Stacey Perkinson’s diminutive stature, slight frame, or the fact that she looks like she could have turned 18 yesterday cause you to underestimate her. Part entrepreneur, part teacher, and all dancer, she’s the owner of Scenic City Dance Center, a newly opened studio housed in the former McKay building on Lee Highway.
The Virginia-born transplant is making a name for Scenic City Dance with her innovative approach to teaching her students, who can range in age from 3 to 93. Perkinson discusses her roots, the genesis of Scenic City Dance and her unique vision for dance in Chattanooga. Have you always danced? I started dancing the September before I turned 2. I turned 2 in November, and I’d started dancing that September. I did my first competition when I was 4. I did a little “Rock Around the Clock” number with a boy.
So you stuck with dance. I danced all the way through. In middle school, I was in a studio, and at the Richmond Ballet. I went to a governor’s school for the arts for high school, and I got a degree in dance from George Mason University.
What were your ambitions at that point? I wanted to be a performer first. Most dancers have a lot of things they want to put their feet into, and performing usually comes first because you’re younger, and you can go and go and go, and be gone. Performing is hard on you physically and mentally. And I did that. I danced in New York City. Beings was my biggest company. And then I was ready for something else, so I moved to Atlanta and joined Harper Continuum Dance Theatre. I still perform with them, and I go down there to take dance.
To train? I’m not just the owner here; I’m also a teacher, so I need to always be educating myself. Not learning what’s current and what’s changing in the dance world would be unfair to my students. I also go to New York to train, and we do a dance teachers conference in the summer in Las Vegas. It’s about teaching certain ages, and what they’re expected to learn and their mental capabilities. A lot of people have an ambition like yours, and they get to a certain point, but they veer off and do the normal thing-- What’s the normal thing? (Laughs.) This is normal to me.
True, but it’s also a passion you’ve been able to pursue as a business. What made you stay on course? My passion for dance is the one thing no one can take from me. I took a year because I thought I might want to go a different route, and I quickly realized there was no way I was going to live this life without dance. Also, my parents always told me, “If this is your dream, go for it.” They never once said, “This is not a good career opportunity because dancers don’t make money.” They were always 100 percent supportive of the craziest thing I could think of.
How did Scenic City Dance come to be? When I was in school, I was a jazz, modern and ballet instructor. I don’t know why, but teaching has always come naturally to me. There are dancers who can’t teach, and teachers who can’t perform. Most of time, you’re more passionate about one or the other, but for some reason, I’m passionate about both. I love to watch a child who’s stepped into my studio grow and learn, and struggle and challenge herself, and watch her come out of that. To know I’m helping her to develop in that way is exciting. So when I was done performing, I knew I wanted a career I could control. And I hadn’t been in control of a lot of the performing. They would say, “We have to go for ten weeks,” and I would get up and go. Part of me was ready to move on from that, and there was no way I was going to let go of dance, so the next step for me was to teach.
I had a strong vision of what I wanted. I’ve been exposed to both good and bad instruction. Growing up, I was in a rough studio until I realized that was not a professional setting. Fortunately, I was able to get out of that and see the other things that are out there. I wanted to take those experiences and bring something I can be proud of to the community. Talk about this physical space.
I have 12,000 square feet, which includes two 90 feet by 35 feet studios and a smaller rehearsal space. All of my studios have Stagestep Flooring. I have Springstep IV, so there’s an underlying foam cushion that protects our dancers from shin splints and knee and hip injuries. Overlaying that is real hardwood. So this place is identical to what you’d find on Broadway. What classes do you offer? We offer everything from beginners to advanced dance. We do ballet, point, creative movement, modern, jazz, hip-hop, tap, and so on. I would love to someday have 20 or 30 teachers offering every genre of dance. The more teachers you can take, the better, more rounded dancer you’ll be. I encourage ballet. It’s wonderful. It’s the foundation of all dance. But there’s more.
You can sign up for a month or a whole season, which is September through May. If you sign up for a season, you get a discount. You also get a discount when you take multiple genres. We also offer a work-study program for our students who are 16 and are involved in four or more classes a week. Working around the studio helps them to understand what their parents are sacrificing to have them here, and I’ve seen children mature quickly as they deal with clients and answer the phone and take it upon themselves to learn about our facility and our goals. I took our concept from a dance center in New York.
You’re not bound to us for an entire season. We don’t do a huge recital at the end of the year because it doesn’t make sense to work on the same routine for six months just to perform it once. That’s not training. Instead, we have informal showcases that let the parents see what their children have been working on and how they’ve been growing and maturing. There are no costumes or fees to attend. What’s your main goal?
Artistic excellence. When you walk into my facility, I want it to be about perfecting an art form in a professional atmosphere. All of my instructors are college graduates or have a professional background in dance. I need to give my clients the best I can, and to know the children in my facility are getting the most professional dance training possible.
For more information about Scenic City Dance, visit www.sceniccitydance.com.