WENDY GARDINER recently opened The Studio Dance Company with her husband, Jaron, in October. The studio offers a variety of jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop and tumbling classes for 3 to 12 year olds, and the business has already surpassed the couple’s expectations.
With six daughters to care for at home and a brand-new business to run, Wendy Gardiner’s life has never been busier – or better.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 15,” said the 38-year-old Gardiner of the new dance school she and her husband, Jaron, recently opened on Northeast Grace Avenue in Battle Ground. “I’m very excited about it.”
The Gardiners opened The Studio Dance Company in October with a variety of jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop and tumbling classes for 3 to 12 year olds, and the business has already surpassed the couple’s expectations.
“We crossed our fingers and prayed for 20 students to get going,” Gardiner says. “Now we have 40 and some of the classes are nearly full. It’s been scary, but also exciting. I’m loving it.”
The Gardiners split the business according to their unique talents. Jaron Gardiner has a master’s of business administration degree from Washington State University, as well as several years’ worth of retail management experience behind him while Wendy Gardiner has a lifetime of dance as well as experience coaching and choreographing high school dance teams.
“He takes care of the business end and I teach the classes,” Gardiner says. “It’s perfect.”
As a child growing up in northern Utah, Wendy Gardiner was an avid dancer. She danced as a ballerina, performed in dozens of recitals, taught her first dance class when she was only 12 years old, led her high school’s dance team and performed as a member of the Utah All State dance team.
“After high school, dancing took a different turn for me,” Gardiner writes on her dance studio website. “I still loved performing and competing, but I was finding more and more joy in teaching. Not just teaching, but seeing these little people grow and change right before me, because of me, and I was officially hooked. I knew right there that I wanted to teach for the rest of my life. I have been blessed to be able to do just that.”
As an adult, Gardiner returned to teaching and choreographing high school dance teams as a member of the United Spirit Association. She coached a dance team while living in Idaho and has choreographed for the award-winning Glencoe High dance team in Hillsboro, OR.
When her eldest daughter, Braquel, 15, entered high school last year, Gardiner recalled the excitement of dancing with her own high school dance team in local parades and at Friday night football games. She admits that she was a little bit disappointed to find out that dance teams aren’t as involved with the local parades and sporting events.
“I loved all of that,” Gardiner said of the dance team performances that were so common during her childhood. “And I think it’s important for the kids to perform … to show what they’ve learned and to feel like they’re good at something. It builds their confidence.”
Gardiner sees dance as a way to boost community spirit, and hopes her young dancers can get involved with community events and parades in Battle Ground.
Gardiner’s hope is that her dance studio will attract a core group of students who will progress from the beginning tumbling and basics classes to more advanced dance courses.
“Right now, most of my students are just beginning,” Gardiner says. “I like that it’s so new for everyone. It’s not as scary for them. No one is a superstar and they all shine at different moments.”
Gardiner’s goal is to host a dance recital in June to showcase her new dance school and her students’ progress. Unlike some dance instructors, who scold their students for less than perfect performances, Gardiner has a more laid-back approach to teaching.
“I want them to learn and to grow, but I also want them to smile and to have happy memories of their dance classes,” Gardiner says.
Although she hopes to someday have her own building, Gardiner currently shares space with Resolution Fitness at 1311 N.E. Grace Ave., in Battle Ground. The space is large and boasts an entire wall of mirrors and a closet full of yoga balls, yoga mats, trampolines and hula hoops – perfect for Gardiner’s younger tumbling classes.
Gardiner offers classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but is open to expanding the schedule depending on need and space availability.
“I wanted to start small, so there is definitely room to expand,” Gardiner says.
Another perk to running her own dance studio is that she has the chance to pass her love of dance on to her own daughters. The Gardiners have six daughters: Braquel, 15; Kilee, 11; Ashlyn, 10; Halli, 9; Reegan, 7; and Morgyn, 18 months. The middle four daughters are all students at Gardiner’s new dance studio.
“It’s really fun,” Gardiner says of teaching her daughters how to dance. “My 11-year-old loves the hip hop class … and, of course, I love having them there.”
Want to find out more about the new Studio Dance Company? Visit the website at www.thestudiodancecompany.com to see a description of available classes, schedules and costs, or call (503) 490-6449 for more information.
