Lisa's Dance Elite - Wintersville, OH

123 Main Street, Wintersville, OH 43953

http://lisasdanceelite.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LisasDanceElite

Photo by Lisa Poole.

The Ohio Valley and nearby Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area have a saturation of dance studios. Lisa Poole, owner of Lisa’s Dance Elite, says that in a 20-mile radius of her location, there are 17 studios. “There’s not much for kids to do in the area beyond school sports,” she notes.

Poole started dancing at the age of three. After attending Kent State University, she opened her own studio, Lisa’s School of Dance, in 1987 and had a class of 30 students. Within a five-year span, enrollment grew tremendously, forcing her to frequently change locations to meet demand. “We probably went through five studios in five years,” she says. By the mid-1990s, her studio was the biggest in the region and she had more than 300 students enrolled.

The success of the dance studios always seemed to be based on the success of the local steel mills. When they were doing well and parents had money, kids were in classes. By early 2000s, the nearby steel mills were closing up. Gone was the money. Gone was the ability for parents to pay for classes.

In 2003, Poole closed her dance studio and took a job as Marketing Director at Fort Steuben Mall.  She continued teaching on a part-time basis at another local studio and people kept requesting her to again open her own place. In 2009, when the local economy was better, she moved into 123 Main Street as Lisa’s Dance Elite.

Her studio offers a wide variety of classes, including ballet, lyrical/contemporary, tap, jazz and hip-hop. She welcomes all ability levels and takes students as young as 18 months old. She also partners with a special needs school, “No one else was open to them…now they have a sponsor and we have class once a week,” Poole says.

Fans of the Lifetime Television show “Dance Moms” know that the Abby Lee Dance Company is located in Pittsburgh. While it is only 30 miles away, Poole says the dance mentality is a world away. “Pittsburgh is high end. It’s about competitions and just dancing. We’re different from them. Here, kids have a life. If they miss [dance class] for school or softball or whatever, they have a life.”

Poole stresses her family-oriented, no-pressure attitude, “Here, you can do what you want. You don’t want to compete? Fine, take [a class] recreationally.” She says her studio isn’t about creating famous dancers, but giving kids opportunities to do what they like to do. One such opportunity is an annual trip to Florida; she takes a group of students to Disneyland. There, they get special training from Disney choreographers and her dancers get to perform for 30 minutes before an audience in Orlando.

Lisa believes that dance helps all ages grow physically, emotionally and socially. She gets feedback from local coaches who notice personality changes in their athletes. In addition to helping build self-esteem and confidence, coaches also say the dance helps their football players and wrestlers with agility.

Former students have gone on to open their own studios in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. While Poole recognizes their success, she says that her students also, “may never dance after they leave here. But,” she adds, “they will remember all the fun they had when they were here.”