Alpine Dance Academy Interview with Kelly Monahon

According to Kelly Monahon, the owner of Alpine Dance Academy in Summit County, Colorado, their program, provides quality dance education in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Pointe, Musical Theatre, Acro (acrobatics) and Polynesian. They offer classes for students at all levels and all, ages 3 through High School.

In Kelly’s opinion, Alpine Dance Academy focuses on technique for the majority of the year. While they do put on a recital, they only concentrate on it for a few months. Their productions are clean and well put together, but they are budget productions. Whether they are in three routines or fifteen routines, no one has a costume bill over $150. Also, they often feature multiple levels of dancers on the stage at the same time. Any song over four minutes in length will have two or more classes performing together. This keeps their shows short and entertaining, while still highlighting each class on the stage. They encourage their parents to watch during “parent watch week” because the show is not what their program is ultimately about. Their goal is to correctly train well rounded dancers who can pursue dance however they wish in their future.

They provide recreational dance opportunities as well as a competitive dance team for their more dedicated dancers. Their award winning competitive dance company, the Alpine Vibes, competes at regional events in Denver two to three times per year and performs around Summit County for community events. The Alpine Vibes is an award winning competitive performing company that is comprised of Alpine Dance Academy’s most talented and dedicated students. The Vibes travel to Denver several times per year to participate in competitions and conventions. The Vibes can be seen performing at home in Summit County in both of Alpine Dance Academy’s performances, as well as at various venues around the county.

As director of the Alpine Vibes, Kelly Monahon takes pride in presenting well rehearsed, entertaining and tasteful competition routines. Vibes are required to take Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap and Hip Hop, and will have additional rehearsals during the week and on Saturdays to prepare for events. Vibes should be prepared to have additional commitments on weekends and evenings during the school year. All Vibes events are mandatory. However, sacrificing school work for rehearsal or Vibes events is not tolerated – all Alpine Vibes must maintain an acceptable GPA to remain in the company. Dancers are placed into the Alpine Vibes by invitation only. Students who are new to Alpine Dance Academy may request an Alpine Vibes audition.

Kelly is from New York, so the city is very familiar to her. However, her students grew up in the mountains of Colorado! When she opened Alpine Dance, she wanted to make sure her students understood that there was a big dance world out there – with so much to offer them if they were willing to step outside their comfort zone! She began taking her most advanced students to New York City to dance at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center. They stay at her parents’ house in Westchester and take the train into the city for classes. Kelly says her proudest moments as a teacher/coach have been watching her dancers hold their own in professional classes. She believes that they were nervous at first, but she now knows they can go anywhere and take a class (with proper etiquette and discipline), and that makes her incredibly proud.

In Kelly’s eyes, the biggest mistake she sees dancers make is dancers who allow themselves to let go of their ballet technique when they are off the barre. Kelly says body placement and core technique is essential. It is important in every style of dance! There is no instant fix. Children need to keep their minds active for every second they are dancing, once they start thinking about homework or what they want for dinner something falls out of place. Only after years of training and practice will your body know what to do! Even at age 32, Kelly often finds herself needing to focus on her basic technique – but that is what she loves about dance! You can continue to work and grow no matter your age or your level.

Kelly believes one of the biggest struggles for the studio this year has to do with their location. She says that their studio is in a very remote location. Most athletes who flock to their area are skiers, so it is very difficult to find qualified dance instructors. However, Kelly has been very fortunate with her staff. They have an amazing staff with an incredible range of styles. As a result, they can offer a large range of classes to their students. For instance, without Sara Skinner they could not offer Polynesian or Acro, and without Abbey Austin they could not offer Musical Theatre. In fact, thanks to Abbey, they are now able to offer Voice as well!

Regarding Alpine Dance, Kelly thinks it is wonderful that they are able to offer such a well-rounded, technically correct program in their remote location. To have the caliber of staff that they do is an incredible blessing for their studio and their community. Also, just like their budget productions, they have a budget studio! They do everything they can to make dance affordable for their parents. Knowing that taking classes outside their studio is essential, but expensive, they started a non-profit scholarship fund for dancers in their area to help with the cost of classes outside their community (donate online at www.summitdancefund.org). Also, they do everything themselves – cleaning, studio repairs, website maintenance, prop and costume production, etc. Making Alpine Dance Academy work truly is a labor of love for everyone on their staff!

Alpine is looking forward to adding a brand new program to their studio! Starting in September, Abbey will be directing the Alpine Conservatory Theatre (the A.C.T. Program for short). This program will give students weekly instruction in singing, acting and theatre dance in a conservatory setting. They will learn all aspects of theatre life, including stage makeup, set design, stage combat and more. The A.C.T. students will be able to showcase what they have learned in 2 musical productions, one in the fall and one in the spring.

Kelly loves to ski and snowboard, which is what originally attracted her to this area. After living in the snow covered tundra of Summit for 10 years, she still enjoys those sports although she doesn’t go on the mountain as often as she used to! Having Alpine Dance has allowed her a creative outlet, and the ability to dance every day – which makes the long winters much more tolerable. Kelly is also a big nerd!  She loves reading (especially Harry Potter books) and Math, I even minored in Statistics at Boston University.

Alpine Dance provides recreational dance opportunities as well as a competitive dance team for their more dedicated dances. Their award winning competitive dance company, the Alpine Vibes, competes at regional events in Denver two to three times per year and performs around Summit County for community events. The Vibes travel to Denver several times per year to participate in competitions and conventions. The Vibes can be seen performing at home in Summit County in both of Alpine Dance Academy’s performances, as well as at various venues around the county. Dancers are placed into the Alpine Vibes by invitation only. Students who are new to Alpine Dance Academy may request an Alpine Vibes audition.

If you would like more information about Alpine Dance Academy, visit their website at www.alpinedanceacademy.com, call them at 970-Alpine 406-0990 or email them at alpinedanceacademy@gmail.com. You can also like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and connect with them on Instagram.

Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Kelly Monahon of Alpine Dance Academy.

Written By Cyndi Marziani
Owner
BDancewear.com