For over a decade Expressions School of Dance has been teaching kids from the age of three all the way through until they finish high school.
The studio that runs classes across Scone and Muswellbrook has recently changed ownership. It’s not a stranger who has taken over, rather someone who has been teaching kids the art of dance for a long time – Miss Kiah.
Kiah van den Heuvel started dancing herself when she was three years old in Sydney. Apart from a year off here and there, she’s danced her whole life.
“I moved to the Upper Hunter when I started high school and eventually settled in at Expressions. I have been a teacher here for the last eight years teaching tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop and lyrical and I’m qualified to teach acrobatics and cheerleading.
“Teaching dance has been my spare time hobby in between having two beautiful daughters and working at Mt Pleasant Operations in the maintenance planning space.
“I absolutely love the dancing though, and when the opportunity came up to take over the studio I jumped at it!”
Expressions have built a strong foundation over the years, with 150 kids of various ages currently enrolled in classes including 60 in the competitive program.
“We offer four different age groups including preschoolers who are in our relatively new program ‘Lil Groovers’. The class not only focuses on dance but incorporates things that help them transition into kindergarten. We teach them about waiting their turn, packing away, following the leader, basic instructions.
“It’s great for their confidence. We have a closed-door policy for that class too, so parents have to stay out! We found that it gives the kids that sense of independence.”
Kiah has competed overseas with Expressions previously and she’s very excited that their Junior Novice team won a bid to compete in Hawaii next year.
“Novice don’t often win those bids; we weren’t expecting it! We’re so excited.
“Our competitive teams do cheerleading, jazz, lyrical and hip hop. We fair quite well at competitions. I try to focus on going to competitions where we will have decent competition as I like to see where we fit overall. It helps me to know that we’re doing our job!”
The studio has done their bit for the community too recently participating in their first ‘Dance for sick kids’ week where the kids committed to dancing an amount of hours to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House. They raised an incredible $10,405.
Kiah said her goal has always been to give country kids the kinds of opportunities that she was lucky enough to have when she was young living in Sydney.
“One day I would like to see that be the case in the Upper Hunter. I can see it starting – Muswellbrook Public School has a great dance program and we have had a program at St Joseph’s – I’d like to be able to do more of that.”
Dancing is so rewarding in so many ways for Miss Kiah, but seeing the kid’s confidence and improvement is a big part of it.
“Some of my seniors finished up last year and I was emotional because I had taught them since they were tiny.
“It’s special to be part of that journey and for their parents to trust you for so long. I feel quite honoured that I get to be a part of that.”
| To find out more about Expressions head to their Facebook or Instagram pages and check out their website: https://www.expressionsdance.com.au/ |
