RIVER VALE, N.J. — I am a Dance Dad. All 3 of my girls attend dance classes, perform in recitals, and (not to embarrass them) hold impromptu dance parties in our family room on a regular basis. As a Dance Dad, I’ve witnessed a transformation—the once tiny toddlers whose cute outfits warmed my heart more than any dance move that they did (or didn’t) get right have, in the course of a few short years, become actual dancers performing in concert with their fellow dancers.

Perpetual Motion Dance Studio (PMDS)

Right in the heart of River Vale, PMDS has been teaching dance for the past 6 years (and 10 years in total). Under the tutelage of owner Danielle Brennan and her staff, dancers learn ballet (Mistress Rose Yamout), jazz and contemporary (Marika Matuszak), jazz and hip hop (Amelia Burkhardt), hip hop (Kenny Hernandez), and tap (Lilly Katz).

Danielle explains, “When selecting our faculty, it was very important to me that I find educators who are not only the strongest in their preferred genre but have an array of knowledge in all. Having a balanced team ensures our students learn from the best at all ages. In fact, most of PMDS faculty members travel to the studio weekly from New York City.”

Mini-Company Dance Team

The ages of dancers at Perpetual Dance range from age 7-18 years old. The Mini Company includes Alexa Gallione, Amelia Eustic, Autumn Massa, Claire Hardin, Nini Khvedelidze, Olivia Cassella, Sophia Drosos, and Zoe Hawkes (all between the ages of 8 and 10).

Dancers come from as close as River Vale and from as far as Fair Lawn and Wyckoff. Every June, they audition for the team. Dancers audition in ballet, jazz, and lyrical. Additionally, if they hope to compete in Tap or Hip Hop, there is an additional audition.

The Perpetual Motion Mini-Company attends 3 local competitions and one convention seasonally. Some dancers attend optional competitions that require traveling and weekend adventures. At a competition, the team performs dances that they have been rehearsing for the season. In addition to team dances, there are also solos, duos, trios, groups, and lines. Most dances are broken up by ability then age, but some combine a variety of ages. At the convention, dancers have an opportunity to take classes from teachers from across the country. They dance for the hopes to win a regional scholarship to Nationals typically held in New York City.

At the end of February, Mini-Company attended the Starpower Competition. The Mini Company dancers won a golden ticket and first place in their category. A golden ticket is an invitation to Nationals, which teams can only attend if they receive an invitation. The school also received a choreography award at the competition. Then, at Onstage New York in March, the squad was rewarded with the Class Act award. Class Act means that the dancers presented themselves in a professional, respectable, and age-appropriate manner throughout all of their dances.

Marika Matuszak says, “The Mini Company is known for their support to each other and the other dancers at the studio. They are notorious for stopping what they’re doing to cheer on another dancer when they achieve a split, another pirouette, or overcome something that they have been working on. At competitions and performances, they genuinely go out of their way to wish luck to and congratulate every single dancer that they see. Their spirit and love for dance is extraordinary. They have inspired the older dancers to remember that the love of dance in its most pure form is about creative expression, collaboration, hard work, and plain and simply because it feels good!

And so, this month we salute the Perpetual Motion Mini-Company dance team as our athletes of the month. We also wish them luck in future competitions. We also salute all dancers: young or old, with or without rhythm, with or without dance moves (Aside: My wife and I belong to the without rhythm and moves category.). In the immortal words of Lady Gaga: Just dance!

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