Dance studio has variety in styles and students

Jenny Langhorst likes that three generations of her family take lessons from Cecilia Marano at Glen Allen Dance Center.

"It's fun, and Cecilia is great with the kids," said Langhorst, who is enrolled in the Henrico County dance school along with her daughter and mother.

"Everyone is very patient," she said. "If you have any kind of problem with a certain step or a certain dance, they make a point to let the student know they will spend extra time with them."

Glen Allen Dance Center offers a variety of classes such as tap, ballet, and jazz for students ages 3 through adult.

Marano has operated a dance studio since 1997. It was first called Monument Avenue Dance Studio, but she then changed the name to the Glen Allen Dance Center when she moved to The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen in fall 2000.

The school moved to its present location at 3016 Mountain Road in 2001.

Since moving, Marano has added classes on lyrical dance, a combination of ballet and jazz techniques, and on funk dance style that originated in California in the 1970s.

"At first I taught everything by myself," she said. "I had one person who would help me with ballet. When I moved the studio to the Cultural Arts Center, it was just me and one instructor. I now have four teachers."

Since 1997, the studio has grown 25 percent in student enrollment. It now has more than 100 students.

"When we moved to Glen Allen our classes got bigger," she said.

Television shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" are prompting girls who have not danced to contact Marano about classes. "Most are in the 16 to 17 age range," she said.

Even though dance studios continue to pop up throughout the metro area, Marano doesn't worry about the competition.

"I don't think about it," she said. "If someone wants to come here and dance, that is great, but if they feel like someplace else offers them something different, they should go there. I want children to enjoy dance."

The studio's recitals are held at the Cultural Arts Center.

"It's wonderful to live and teach in the community and also have shows here," she said.

Along with the recitals, Glen Allen Dance also holds special Halloween and Christmas parties for students.

"The studio is more than just dance," said Laurie Bost, whose three daughters take classes at Glen Allen. "It's a positive environment."

Bost and her mother also have taken classes from the school.

"Over the years they have become family," she said.

The studio's roots date back to 1920 when Elinor Fry Phillips started the Elinor Fry School of Dance at 2600 Monument Ave.

Marano was 3 when she started taking lessons from Phillips in 1964.

"I didn't like dance at first," she said. "My mom made me go."

Marano assisted with classes when she was 15 and taught classes at age 19.

"I've never left the school since I started," she said.

After Phillips retired, Margaret Woodburn took over the school and changed the name to Heritage School of Dance. Marano began operating the dance studio in 1997 after Woodburn died.

"I thought, 'If I don't take this school, what will happen to it?'" she said. "I loved dancing, teaching and being with the children. I thought it would be silly not to do what I loved doing."