Elevation Dance Company (“EDC”) is a new, cutting edge studio in the quaint town of Pendleton, South Carolina. Their goal is to help all students rise to the next level, no matter what that may be. They offer recreational and competitive level classes in a variety of genres. EDC strives to show students not only the value of a strong dance technique, but also the value of character as well. The Elevation Family is a strong-knit, loving group of dancers and families.
Elevation Dance Company’s Owner and Director, Kahli Ziegler, believes that they are different from other studios due to the family atmosphere that it provides. Taking dance does not just involve the dancers, but their whole support team. As a studio, EDC does everything they can to support the whole family as well. Elevation also aims to teach not only fundamental dance technique, but has the goal of having fun at the same time. EDC is set apart by the balance between technique, hard work, and fun that they create.
Kahli says her proudest moment coaching is a difficult one to describe. Her students are continually making her so proud in ways that the average person might not notice. It is the small steps that they take in classroom that make her heart beam with pride. Watching a dancer finally understand a correction that they have been struggling with for a long time – it is great to see that progress! She also loves seeing the way that her advanced, competition dancers interact with their recreational students. She sees so many studios where there is a big divide between these two groups, but that doesn’t happen at EDC. One of the moments that Kahli has been the proudest of is during their most recent Christmas Parade. Their students welcomed in some of their Special Needs dancers and helped them to be able to live their dream of dancing down the streets in the Christmas Parade. There wasn’t anybody who wasn’t smiling, and that’s what dance is all about! Of course, Kahli also mentioned the time when her students faced a huge week of adversity during the week before a big competition. Even so, they ended up with a First Overall Trophy in their division. This was the first time all year they had accomplished that. She was very proud how they faced tough circumstances with a grin and just kept fighting for what they wanted!
Kahli believes the biggest mistake that dancers make is being too uptight. In today’s 
competitive society, it is so common to worry about being perfect and wondering what others think of you. Dancers are afraid of making mistakes and play it safe. While technique is fundamental and important, when she sees a dancer let everything go, that is when she sees them at their highest level of dance. As an audience member, your eye will always be drawn to the person who is dancing their heart out, not the one paralyzed of movement. To conquer this, she thinks it is crucial to give her students an outlet for practicing this. One of the exercises that they like to do is frequent improv sessions. They have Christmas lights in the studio and turn off all of the other lights creating a quiet, low-key atmosphere. This encourages their students to let go and not worry about what others are thinking. They encourage their dancers to be creative and not to worry about what they look like. Getting to watch her dancers experiment and grow during this time is very rewarding. When dancers are able to dance for themselves, that’s when they are really dancing.
Elevation’s main goal for this year is to never be complacent with where they are at. There is always room for growth, in every aspect of the studio. For their students, they can always become more flexible, gain more strength, pull out one more turn, work their turn-out a little more, etc. They also are striving to grow in number of students at the studio. As a new studio, they are always welcoming new students. This year they want to continue this growth and be able to share their love of dance with more and more families! They also want to help grow their community. The arts are so important and they want to continue to help grow a positive atmosphere where everybody can feel safe and loved!
Kahli wanted to start a studio for many reasons. For as long as she could remember, she has always loved to dance. The majority of her childhood memories could be tied to dance in one way or another. She also has a passion for the next generation. Kahli has 
always been drawn to teaching and helping students get better in any way possible. She loves breaking elements down and watching somebody begin to understand something on their own. She has always wondered what she would do after she graduated college with an Early Childhood/Elementary Education degree. Kahli knew she loved to teach, but she did not want to give up dancing. Thankfully, God had greater plans for her than she could imagine for herself. The right doors started opening and others started closing and everything just seemed to fall into place. As stressful as it was to start a business just two months after graduating college and one month after getting married, Kahli wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. Owning a dance studio is definitely a dream come true!
EDC is the greatest family that you could ever join. Their Elevation Family is closer than you can imagine. Even though Kahli is a young business owner, she feels fully supported by their EDC Family and she cannot begin to describe what that means to her. She also adores how their family takes care of one another. At EDC, there is a chance that anybody else’s momma might come up to a dancer to fix their hair, mom spit and all. She says you should also see the brigade that it takes to get the preschoolers into cars when it is raining. Those parents have quite the system to keep their tiny dancers from getting wet! Kahli has always heard that it takes a village to raise a child. Even though she does not have any biological children, she considers every child at EDC one of hers. She would do absolutely anything for them and she knows they would return the favor. Kahli believes you cannot say that about every studio and they are so blessed!
If you would like more information about Elevation Dance Company, visit their website at www.elevationdancecompany.com
or email them at elevationdanceinfo@gmail.com. You can also “Like” them on Facebook.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Kahli Ziegler of Elevation Dance Company.
Written By Cyndi Marziani
Owner
BDancewear.com
