The Moving Canvas Dance Space is the only adult-only, multi-genre dance studio in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, offering comprehensive, affordable adult dance education to dancers ranging from the absolute beginner to the professional. Gypsy Crane Ingram is the Owner/Artistic Director.
What separates the Moving Canvas from other studios is the simple fact that their entire existence centers on adult dance education. They aren’t a studio who has a few adult classes sprinkled into their schedule devoted to kids. They only offer classes for adults, classes ranging from classical ballet, contemporary, hip hop, tap, jazz, burlesque, dance fitness, and aerial silks and aerial yoga. Adults can find almost any style they are looking for under Moving Canvas’ roof and do so in a studio that is centrally located with easy access from most places in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Additionally, every class on their schedule has been crafted to meet the unique needs of adult dancers. This includes offering a wide palette of dance styles, offering multiple technical levels so dancers of all abilities can find a class appropriate for where they are, and allowing all dance clients to take class on a drop-in basis. They understand that adults, especially adult women, have a myriad of demands for their time and they far too often sacrifice their needs and wants. Historically that means they have to give up the things they do for themselves – things such as taking a dance class. By operating as a drop-in studio, they provide adults the freedom they need to come and go as their schedule permits. It also prevents the students from being locked into a class for long periods of time. They have the freedom to find one class they love and stick with it long term or move around the schedule and try new classes that interest them.
Finally, Moving Canvas Dance Space wants to be intimately connected to their community and to the recreational and professional dancers in that community. Therefore, they open their studios to the community for rental. Finding space to rehearse when you are not associated with an established dance company can be difficult. Moving Canvas wants to make that easier and so their studios are available 7 days a week for outside groups. They love the energy these groups bring and the way the groups’ time in their studios connects them to the larger dance family of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Gypsy has coached hundreds of dancers to this point in her career, many who are now professional dancers working both nationally and internationally. She takes enormous pride in all of them but her greatest joy professionally comes from seeing the everyday victories of the adult dancers at Moving Canvas. These men and women come to Moving Canvas hungry and excited about their journeys as dancers. They commit themselves fully each and every class and genuinely desire to grow and mature as dancers. Gypsy watches them week to week as they climb to the top of an aerial silk for the first time, or add another revolution to a pirouette, remember longer sequences of choreography without thinking, or step outside of their box and try a class that is way beyond their comfort levels. Those small victories every day are what make Gypsy proud. She is proud that she owns a studio where adults can come dance, feel comfortable in their own skin, and become better dancers one class at a time.
Gypsy believes that one of the biggest mistakes they see dancers make is that they come to class and think they can learn to dance by simply recreating the shapes they see in the movement. They think of dance as re-creation rather than investigating how those shapes are made. Moving Canvas uses class time to focus on building the fundamentals of dance and not just on cranking out a new dance each week. For Moving Canvas’ instructors, it is much more important that dancers understand how to maneuver their bodies through a given exercise. They want them to be smart, thinking dancers who have solid foundations to build upon as they mature as dancers. The instructors do that by asking the dancers to think in class, by asking them to engage in peer reviews, by asking them to teach us how to break down a technical concept, etc. Learning this way gives the dancers ownership in their dance experience and allows them to emerge as individuals who can truly dance and not just mimic what they see class to class.
Moving Canvas Dance Space just celebrated their 1-year anniversary. They really want to focus this year on continuing to grow their client base – to bringing new dancers into their classes. They also want to honor their committed client base with the introduction of a series of master classes and workshops aimed specifically at the dance styles they love the most. They will also continue to focus on growing their exposure in the community by participating in local dance festivals and community events where they can showcase the talent of our dancers. Lastly, Moving Canvas Dance Space wants to use this next year to continue to network with local dance studios and college dance programs – to build relationships that foster an open exchange of ideas, collaborations between studio borders, and broader network of resources for everyone.
Gypsy talked and dreamed about opening a studio of her own for almost 10 years. In that time she directed a collegiate dance program. She was exposed to so many adults who came to her college dance classes because they were looking for an adult only dance class and simply could not find one 
that met their needs. Gypsy heard time and time again from these adults that they really wanted to find a studio that offered adults quality dance classes, classes that made them feel as if they were important. At the same time, Gypsy’s dance colleagues, her friends who were dance instructors and working dancers would tell her how hard it was to find a class for them. Adult classes were either for the absolute beginner or they weren’t in the dance styles they were looking for. Gypsy knew there needed to be a place to change that – a studio that would make adult dancers feel as special and unique as the hundreds of studios out there that cater to young adult dancers. And after 10 years of building and maintaining a successful collegiate dance program, she decided it was time to make her own dreams come true. She also has a husband and a three year old daughter. She wanted a professional life that allowed her not only dance, the thing she loves, but actually spend time with the family she adores. Opening Moving Canvas Dance Space allows Gypsy to do that and it has been the most rewarding decision she has made professionally. She can’t believe she waited 10 years to do it!
Moving Canvas is, for the most part, a one-stop shop. Clients can take almost any style of dance and do it under their roof. Their drop-in classes are affordably priced but they also offer monthly memberships that make their classes even more affordable. Moving Canvas also offers services that include private and small group instruction. They choreograph first dances for wedding couples/wedding parties and they also offer Burlesque and Burlesque Aerial Silks parties for bachelorette parties or ladies night out events.
They are connected to social media via Face book, Integra, and Twitter and they actively encourage their clients to post video, photos, and testimonials to not only Moving Canvas’ pages but their clients’ as well. They understand that word of mouth is the best recruitment tool and there is no better recruitment tool than happy clients.
Lastly, Moving Canvas works very hard to make connecting to their classes as easy as possible. Everything from setting up a client profile to registering for and paying for class to setting up private lessons can be done from any device with internet connection. For their client base, it really is about ease and accessibility and Moving Canvas’ online presence gives them just that.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Moving Canvas Dance Space or Gypsy Crane Ingram.
If you would like more information on Moving Canvas Dance Space, visit their web site at http://www.movingcanvasdance.com. Also, you can connect with them with Face book, Instagram and Twitter.
