Kassy Roach (pronounced row shay) is beginning her new year with a fresh start and the opening of her own dance studio.
Roach said, “I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and lived there for a few years, my dad was in the military. We moved to the San Francisco Bay area where I grew up. I graduated from Granada High School. I married, was later divorced and I have two children; Cory and Savannah.
“I have studied dance my whole life. I began dancing at the age of 4. While a teenager I competed in level 10 gymnastics. While I was a young dancer the coach saw me hanging from the ballet bar and decided I needed to be a gymnast. I was a three times all around champion in the Northern California area competing in the bar, beam, vault and floor exercise.
“I attended Jacqueline’s Finishing School when I was 18. I also competed in pageants while I was in California. We moved to Salt Lake where I taught dancing in various gyms and also taught modeling and self esteem classes at an area college. My classes are for small children through adults.
“We moved to Castle Dale a few months ago. I was checking into enrolling Savannah in gymnastics and heard that LaRae Majors wanted to sell her dance studio and go on a mission. So, I talked to her about it and now here I am with a dance studio. It has always been one of my dreams to own my own studio.
“I’ve ordered some new equipment, a standing pit for power tumbling and a handspring machine, which helps the gymnast flip back without a spotter. This helps the students to perfect their handspring. I have ordered more things for the little kids like down-sized equipment for the little ones to learn on. The little kids have a hard time with the full sized equipment. I will spend a lot of time teaching fundamentals to the young students. I love to work with the little kids. They are so much fun. I’ve also ordered a lot of new clothes for the store. I love dressing up the little kids for their productions.
“I will teach dance and pointe classes, which is ballet using toe shoes. I will also have modeling classes and modeling camps. I plan on having self esteem classes for women of all ages. I would also like to set up workshops on nutrition and make-up and a variety of topics. I want to start an adult dance class. I want to include a variety of dance in this class; jazz, hula, tap and ballet. I also want to do some combination classes for mother and daughter. One thing that the girls and their mothers used to enjoy that we did in Salt Lake were the fashion shows and I would like to try that down here. Another class I would like to teach is on stage makeup and age appropriate makeup for pageants. These classes would be where moms are learning with their kids and taking the class along with them.
“Our first production will be in the spring. I really like to work with showy props and costumes and emphasize showmanship. The theme for our first show will be “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Other themes will include “Beauty and the Beast,” “Shrek,” and “Aladdin.” I love props and novelty productions. I love to go all out with costumes. I want all the babies to be dressed as Shirley Temple for one of the numbers. I have also ordered new lighting and a fogger for special effects.
“I also want to have an advanced dance team and encourage girls to be on the team as well as performing solo. In order to be considered for any college teams the girls need to be strong soloists.
“I have plans for the studio which is formerly LaRae’s Dance Studio here in Huntington. We plan on painting and giving it a little face lift as well. Our new name is De Roche’ Dance, Modeling and Gym.
“I have plans for the teenagers too. I would like to teach swing dance and have a country night for the teenagers. I would also like to have square dances and teach people to square dance.
“I would like to find a way for all children to be able to participate in dance or gymnastics regardless of their income.
“My daughter is going to help me with some of my classes and I would like to find someone else to help part time. My daughter Savannah loves to dance. While I was pregnant with her I prayed for a dancer. I think everyone can learn to dance if you want to do it in your heart. You have to want to learn. Dancing is such good exercise and a good outlet for stress.
“I want to encourage parent participation. I’d like to start keeping a photo essay of the students and their progress for their scrapbooks. We would also like to develop a website that parents could visit to see their students progress.
“I like to teach choreography to the students. It’s a lot of fun. I like the student’s to start learning choreography right away so they can do things on their own and become more independent.
“It will take a while to get things going, but I am excited to be here,” said Roche.
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