Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Christy Hambright-Carter and Cathy-Lee Hambright Ward, co-owners of Dancers Edge located in North Carolina. I asked both Christy and Cathy-Lee what separates their studio apart from other studios, they feel Dancers Edge has always taken great pride in three things: their professionalism, their organization, and the level of instruction they offer. Their instructors are carefully selected and rival that of a convention level staff. Many of their instructors have even taught at conventions, judged dance competitions, and have even done choreography across the US.
Their competition team is simply the Dancers Edge Competition Team or “Edge” Competition Team. Dancers Edge has consistently been recognized as one of the top competitive studios in the Country… winning State, Regional, and National titles every year since they opened their doors. They were recognized by Dancer magazine as the studio with the “Best Technique” in the Nation. The Federation of Dance Competitions has recognized Dancers Edge in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 as one of the top studios in the country. Dancers Edge has been selected as the Best Dance Studio and School in Winston-Salem by the US Commerce Association for their “exceptional success in the local community and as a company that enhances the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community”. And, their students regularly receive scholarships to train at some of the top schools in the country including: New York, California, and Detroit.
Both Cathy-Lee and Christy look at a lot of factors when choosing their competition schedule; including: qualified, unbiased, judges, a level playing field for all studios, a diverse judging panel, a reasonable scoring system where technique plays a big role, professionalism, etc. Unfortunately, they have seen a lot of competitions that do not fall within those guidelines, but there are a handful of good ones that they attend regularly. Those include Showstopper, Applause Talent, Star Systems, Kids Artistic Review, Leap Dance Competition, and some others.Dancers Edge studio is fortunate to have a lot of dancers who stay with them for many years. “It’s always hard that senior year when a dancer has been with you a long time and you see them growing up and spreading their wings.” Christy explained. It was hard for Christy and Cathy-Lee to name specific people and achievements – for fear they would leave someone out, but they have many dancers who now teach (for them and other studios across the Country), working dancers in New York and Los Angeles, a dancer who was with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, one who received a scholarship to one of the most prestigious schools in the Nation (Julliard), some who are currently traveling the world performing or on tour. So, they are proud of all of their dancers and the things they carry with them as they move on. Whether that is a career in dance or just the life lessons, friendship, etc., that they take with them. Christy: “We are a team, a family, and work to support each of our dancers.”
Christy and Cathy-Lee feel that good dance clothing is clothing that moves and breathes with the dancer, that allows the dancer to do their job (i.e. their dance) while enhancing and not restricting. They feel it’s also important that clothing fit appropriately, which can be hard to do when you consider all of the athletic things dancers do. And, of course, the dancers want to look cute too! These are items both Christy and Cathy-Lee would recommend for any serious (female) dancer to have with them at all times: black booty shorts, a black sports bra, appropriate items to secure your hair, sweatpants or warm up pants, appropriate shoes, and a fitted tank or tee.
They would say their goals for Dancers Edge this year are to continue to stay on the forefront of the dance world, to stay up-to-date in what they do, and continue to share their love of dance and their lives with their dancers. Personally, they feel they are constantly rewarded by their dancers and the blessings they bring to their life, so they just hope that they give some of that back to them.
If you have experience with Dancers Edge or Christy Hambright-Carter and Cathy-Lee Hambright Ward please leave a comment below about your experience!
By Cyndi Marziani
Owner
Owner
