New studio opens in Big Lake

BIG LAKE – Dancers of all ages and skill levels now have an opportunity to learn and perform up north out of a brand new studio.

Chandra McCain’s 34 years of dance experience are finally being put to use in her own studio, All About Dance, which just opened in Big Lake this June. For those who might not be able to afford both the cost of classes and the drive into Wasilla or Palmer for other studios, McCain said, All About Dance is the solution.

“There’s not really any other option, and definitely not anyone on the (north) side of Pittman (Road),” McCain said, referring to other Valley dance studios.

McCain said she began dancing in 1986 when she enrolled in ballet and tap classes in Washington state, but clogging became her passion when she was nine years old. Following that, she competed in the Pacific Northwest for 15 years, then came to Alaska and began teaching for Mat-Valley Dance in 2013.

In February 2014, McCain decided to tap, tip and clog in her own studio, and teach others to do so as well. All About Dance currently serves about 65 dancers from age two-and-a-half to age 65, 95 percent of whom have never had a class before, much less performed in front of a crowd, McCain said.

According to its website, All About Dance has 25 different classes of varying levels available – including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Clogging, Dance Fitness and “Mommy and Me” – and McCain teaches them all.

“She’s very, very dedicated,” said dance parent Jennifer Grube of her kids’ teacher. “She’s really focused on the community and helping kids learn.”

That community focus comes straight from the company tagline and goal: “Building Community Through Dance.”

Grube’s four- and five-year-old daughters Anastasia and Bayleigh are enrolled in pre-ballet and ballet classes, respectively, at All About Dance. Her older son is enrolled in the upcoming fall classes.

Bayleigh Grube in particular, who has always loved to dance around the house and dress up, her mother said, was extremely shy – but not anymore.

“She has completely blossomed,” Bayleigh’s mother said. “She wouldn’t speak to anybody or make eye contact before but Chandra has really put that confidence in her.”

Delta Fettes, a friend of McCain’s, also has a little girl involved in pre-tap and pre-ballet at the new studio. Though they live in Palmer, Fettes knew she could afford to make the drive into Big Lake for her daughter.

“Chandra’s worth the drive,” Fettes said.

For Sonia Williams, who comes from Wasilla, that statement may ring even truer. Williams said she had always wanted to enroll her girls in dance classes but was hesitant because of the financial cost. When she heard about McCain’s affordable options – 10 to 35 dollars per month for one student, one class – Williams was ready to sign seven-year-old Hanna and eight-year-old Rebecca up.

Little did she know that All About Dance would become a great outlet for her autistic, epileptic son Daniel, too.

“He really loves it,” Williams said of her 10-year-old.

Daniel isn’t able to play sports, his mother said, but she wanted to find an activity for him to be around other kids, and hip hop stuck.

“He loves hanging out with people,” Williams said. “Dance gives him that social time, and he loves music.”

The Williams kids, Grube daughters and Fette’s daughter performed with the rest of the studio’s dancers at the Alaska State Fair on Thursday, Aug. 28 on the Alyeska Pipeline Colony Stage, their second performance. All About Dance students had their first performance at Houston Founders Day the weekend before.

“It’s been an amazing thing for this community,” Grube said. “Lot of kids wouldn’t be able to have dance in their lives if not for (her) and that studio.”

McCain said she hopes to be able to offer even more opportunities for potential students as she and her husband work on a foundation for those with very low income to make up the difference in class costs.

“You don’t break a cycle without putting something out there,” McCain said of the effort to provide classes without breaking a business’ bank. “It’s been proven: students who take a session’s worth of classes in an arts program are 85 percent more likely to attend high school and finish.”

McCain said she grew up paying for dance lessons herself with pennies earned by turning in soda cans she picked up on the weekends, so all of this is “very dear to my heart.”

McCain also teaches dance as a physical education credit for home-school students. She hopes to get a competitive dance team going someday, she said, since the Valley currently has none.

To enroll with All About Dance or look at class schedules, visit allaboutdanceak.wix.com or call Chandra McCain at 715-9174.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.