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Dancer Takes The Next Step

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE

Young dance enthusiasts learn about tap dance steps during a Creative Movement class at Caryl's Studio of Performing Arts, 4540 W. Village Drive. Instructor/owner Caryl Scalise works with the youths ages 2 and 1/2 to 4 years old.

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2007

Updated: 10/15/2007 07:13 pm

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CARROLLWOOD - Caryl Scalise's love for dance and the performing arts began at age 3 when her mother, thinking she was a chubby kid, signed her up for ballet and tap classes.

The introduction to dance led to voice lessons, then training in other classical and creative dance styles such as jazz, lyrical, modern and pointe.

'I remember doing it every year and loving every single minute of it,' she said.

Scalise continued her dance career through grade and high school.

At age 11, she was a student helper, and at age 15, she started teaching her own classes at the Emerald Hills Dance Studio of Performing Arts in the Fort Lauderdale area.

'It's just something that I've always loved,' Scalise said. 'I just kept with it. It becomes a family environment. That's all I know. If it's not a part of me, I'm not the same person.'

Scalise is hoping to re-create that same family environment while fulfilling a dream with the opening of Caryl's Studio of Performing Arts in the heart of Carrollwood Village.

The dance studio is in a former dry cleaners space in the Village Corners shopping plaza at West Village and South Village drives.

Scalise teaches creative movement and hip-hop classes on Mondays and has two other dance instructors teach during the week.

The studio offers classes every weekday afternoon and evening. The 30-class schedule includes beginner and advanced classes in various dance styles, including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical and pointe.

Scalise moved to Tampa in 2001 to attend the University of South Florida, where she majored in opera performance and danced for three years in the school's dance department.

After graduation, Scalise tried pursuing a professional dance career and went on some auditions in musical theater.

But her heart was in teaching dance.

'I'd rather teach students and help them grow,' she said. 'I still do what I love to do. It's just not as much pressure.'

The Carrollwood studio, open for about a month, has about 40 students.

Scalise said new students are registering each day, with the hip-hop classes filling up quickly. The popular street dancing genre is offered to little ones in the mini hip-hop class and up to teens in the advanced hip-hop class.

In the creative movement class, children ages 2 to 4 learn basic steps of ballet, tap and acrobatics. The weekly lessons culminate in an end-of-the-year recital.

Tots take turns practicing ballet movements and tumbling across a mat. Midway through the 45-minute class, the girls change into their tap shoes to learn combinations.

Often Scalise is showing her students the proper techniques by rolling on the mat with them or reminding them to have pretty arms and pointed toes.

'What I've learned is that younger children learn off of repetition and routine,' she said.

Carrollwood Village resident Alanna Barber said she noticed the sign for the new studio and signed up her 3-year-old daughter Avery for the creative movement class.

Barber said she likes the idea of supporting a local business, and having the studio so close is a nice neighborhood feature.

She said her daughter has enjoyed the ballet and tap lessons.

'Avery is at that age where they want to be ballerinas, and she loves dancing,' Barber said.

Melodie Good said her two daughters, 2 1/2 -year-old Victoria and 4-year-old River, also love being little ballerinas.

'I just think it makes them feel good about themselves,' Good said. 'When they leave here, they're all happy and enthusiastic. At this age, they don't have any of that self-consciousness. They just do it and don't worry about whether they're doing it right.'

Good said Scalise does a great job keeping her young students engaged and learning.

'Everything she's doing with them is about building coordination,' she said.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Caryl's Studio of Performing Arts

ADDRESS: 4540 West Village Drive, Tampa

CLASSES OFFERED: Ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics, lyrical, creative movement, modern, pointe, hip-hop, voice and drama

CONTACT: (813) 960-0404

WEB SITE: www.CarylsStudio .com

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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