The Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy is located in Cape May, New Jersey. Cape May is located on the southernmost tip of New Jersey surrounded on three sides by water. Consequently, their studio draws from a very small area. Thus, the reason for their motto – “Small but Mighty.” According to Stina Smith, the owner and artistic director, they have about 180 students, with 17 of them on their competition team, ranging from 6 to 18 years of age. Despite their location they have been on three National television shows, America’s Got Talent, season four and seven and Paula Abdul’s Live To Dance. The dance studio offers classes in Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Tap, Jazz, Acro, Musical Theater, and all forms of dance gymnastics and contortion. They have All Boy Hip Hop Classes, Mommy and Me Class and Pre-School class.
Stina believes that what separates their studio from other studios in their area is their total dedication to high quality dance and gymnastics education. No matter the level of their students’ noncompetitive or competitive desires, their staff teaches with the same focus on good quality technique in all areas of dance and gymnastics. In the competitive world, Stina thinks the combination of dance, gymnastics and contortion in their routines sets them aside from most of the other studios.
With 31 years in the business, Stina has had many proud moments watching her students perform in Broadway shows, at Radio City as a Rockette, performing for Disney, dancing with Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey, winning national titles, and, of course, performing on national television. Each of these moments reminds her of how far each of these students has 
come and how hard they had to work to get to that moment. They all had that moment when they stood in the corner of the dance studio and cried because they were frustrated about something they could not get but, they never gave up. They came back and kept trying, working harder and harder to follow that dream. So, when she watches her students today and they get that smile on their face after weeks of trying to accomplish some dance move or gymnastics trick or contortion move and they freak out with joy, she smiles with pride because she knows that these are the kids that are going to make it in life regardless of what they do. These are her proudest moments.
In Stina’s viewpoint, tricks for the most part come easy to younger students especially in the gym. Having them understand that technique is more important than tricks is the toughest thing for kids to understand. She always says to them, “Quality versus quantity when it comes to your bag of tricks.”
As a business owner, Stina feels that they are always trying to keep the quality of their business while trying to stay up with the changes in their world. The changes in the mindset of their clients wanting everything to be easy for their little ones with no pressure and no demands and still wanting them to be involved in everything creates pressure for them. So, her goal this year has been to try and educate their parents on the importance of dedication and hard work in the dance and gymnastics world and that dance is an art form. It is not something you can just look at a YouTube video and call yourself a dancer. In order to do gymnastics and contortion, you have to spend hours and hours each week conditioning. You have to put the blood, sweat and tears into these beautiful, fascinating, fulfilling subjects in order to be able to really reap the joy of calling yourself a dancer or a gymnast. Stina believes it is important to teach children that falling down is okay as long as you learn how to get back up and try again.
Stina decided to open a studio after she had worked for someone else for eight years and felt that technique was not emphasized enough and that the quality of dance education was being sacrificed to stay in business. She promised herself that she would never do that when she opened her own studio. According to her, it has not been easy and there have been many a year that her paychecks sat on her desk instead of in the bank. She wanted to expose her students in this small town to the real world of dance. She also wants to show them how many amazing dancers are out there and to teach them how they could be one of those amazing dancers if they were dedicated and worked hard.
According to Stina, their studio is truly a family run business. Her daughter, Kendra Hemingway, teaches all of the advanced classes for her and her sister Annika Nash runs the gymnastics department. Annika’s daughter, Bryce Yerk, teaches gymnastics and acro. Her former student Louise Marshall has taught all of the children’s work for the past 25 years and her daughter, Jamie Marshall, teaches dance and gym. Kellie Rossi Stelacio and Christine Rossi Sundstrom both former students and sisters teach gymnastics and dance as well. Former student Megan Miller Hunter teaches tap. Her office manager has been with her for over 18 years and her son was a former student of Stina. Each of these fine ladies has grown up in Stina’s studio and know first hand how she want their students to be taught. They have a pride in what they do and a have 100% loyalty to the business. Stina feels very, very lucky to call them all family.
If you would like more information about Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy, visit their website at www.jerseycapedance.com, call them at 609-889-8585 or 609-827-3229 or email them at stina5431@gmail.com. You can also “Like” them on Facebook, view them on YouTube and connect with them on Instagram.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Stina Smith of Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy.
