Ashton Kline-Gebhard is a full time Teacher and Choreographer at The Dance Academy (TDA), in Holland, Pennsylvania, as well as the studio’s Social Media Director. Ashton describes their studio as a second home for both faculty and students that provides a creative environment where students and staff alike are able to come in each day to express themselves and share their love of dance. She also describes it as an environment of encouragement, learning and positive life lessons. They pride themselves at The Dance Academy for offering “professional training, with a personal touch.” TDA offers classes for children to adults including: toddler dance, ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, creative dance, theater dance, and acrobatics. Their classes are created to help each child develop strong core techniques and their personal artistic talent to the best of their abilities.
According to Ashton, their dance studio is different from other dance studios in many ways. TDA has been a part of the community for over 30 years. Their Artistic Director, Donnajean Kline, opened the studio doors in 1987! The Dance Academy has been helping teach and grow children in their love of dance since that time. Donnajean has developed a curriculum that meets the needs of all types of dancers, from highly competitive students who dance up to 18 hours a week to students who just enjoy dancing and take one or two hours of classes each week. They have proudly produced hundreds of alumni over the years and are very happy to say that some of these students grace the stage of Radio City Music Hall, Cruise Ships, Las Vegas and Disney World. Additionally, they have Alumni who are extremely successful in other careers such as Medicine, Education, Law and Business. One thing that Ashton truly thinks separates them from other studios is their mission to give back to their community. 
Each year they are actively involved in numerous charity events and drives such as their Fall Food Drive in which they have donated over 3,000 pounds of food ever since the drive was started a few years ago. They have also been a verified “Toys for Tots” drop site for the past four years. Additionally, they have participated in other charitable ventures such as when some of their dancers and faculty growing out their hair and donating their ponytails, a book drive in which all the collected books were donated to a local elementary school that was in need of assistance, and each spring they have a collection for “Alex’s Lemonade Stand.” Ashton truly believes that by being involved in the community service the way they are, they are teaching their students more than how to just dance. She believes having students participate in these events teaches them that even one small gesture of kindness, when combined with the power of their whole TDA Family, can have a giant impact on someone else’s life. A lesson she hopes will stay with them for years to come when it is their time to graduate and leave the studio.
Ashton definitely finds it hard to pinpoint one exact moment that she could describe as her “proudest” moment while teaching. She has been a full time teacher for about six and a half years so she has seen a lot of great moments at the studio. Of course, it was an amazing moment to see some of their groups and lines named national champions last year at the Showstoppers “America Loves to Dance” national finals. However, Ashton indicates that she would have to say that she is most proud when she sees it all “click” for a student. After working as hard as they do, whether it is towards a technical element, or something like performance quality or a breakthrough in self-confidence, it is very rewarding to her as a teacher to see it all come together for a child. Another moment that will stay with Ashton forever was when the dancers from their special needs program, Dancing Without Limits, took the stage at recital for the first time last year. They were approached last year by a group of parents who were interested in starting their children in a dance class. Ashton believes every child deserves a chance to dance and they were extremely excited to start their Dancing Without Limits program. After a year of hard work, their dancers took the stage at their 30th Anniversary Recital and absolutely stole the show! Their pure joy and love of dance infected the entire audience! They had the whole crowd clapping and dancing in their seats along with the dancers. It was just pure joy watching these dancers! This year, their special needs program has grown even more and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences Ashton has been able to be a part of since she began his teaching career.
Aston says that dance is hard. They are trained to twist their bodies into unnatural positions and balance on one leg while rotating . . . It is a challenge! One of the biggest mistakes she sees kids make is not necessarily a technical error. (Although she says he could go on and on about technical mistakes for a while.) The biggest mistake she sees the most often is a mental mistake, and that is the mistake of thinking that it is going to be easy. She is a firm believer of hard work and dedication, and she truly thinks that the process of continuously practicing to your fullest potential every single time is extremely important. In classes, rehearsals and solos, they constantly try to push their students to dance with the same exact passion, power and energy that they will have when on stage. So, her advice to students in order to fix their mistakes “is to prepare yourself for the battle. It is not always going to be easy. There are going to be days when your body is tired, but those are the days that you need to push harder. Because, after pushing yourself harder on that day when you’re exhausted, you will be stronger the next day.” Ashton is a huge fan of the quote “Sore today, Stronger tomorrow.” Also, Ashton always reminds her dancers to approach classes with passion. She explains that the more passion they have in class, the more enjoyable their experience will be.
As a teacher, Ashton’s goals for this year are to continue to push her students to be the best version of themselves that they can possibly be so that when they step out on stage they feel confident and ready to go. She also strives to be a positive role model in all of his students’ lives, and that will be another goal on which she will continue to focus.
Ashton comes to her love of dance honestly as she is the studio owner’s daughter. Donnajean, the owner, is the artistic director and creator of The Dance Academy in Holland, Pennsylvania. She had a vision from an early age and was determined to open a dance school that could become a second home to all their students. Her goal was, and still is, to offer high quality dance education that enables students to discover themselves, establish self-confidence, and a positive sense of self-esteem. Miss Donnajean was enrolled in dance class at the age of three in order to help her overcome her extreme shyness. As a young dancer, she studied with Isobel Stewart-Johnson and then in New York City with Charles Kelly and various other master teachers. She graduated Cum Laude from Temple University College of HPERD, was honored to receive the Outstanding Senior Award and was named to the list of Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. In 1987, Donnajean and her husband Ramo, along with the support of their parents, opened The Dance Academy. A dream that started for Donnajean at the age of eight became a reality. With the constant love and support of family over the years, they have been able to nurture and develop The Dance Academy into the multifaceted school that it is today. Not only has Donnajean obtained her Dance Masters of America certification, she has received numerous awards over the years such as The Diamond Award for choreography multiple times, the Class Act Award for age appropriate material representing the studio and good showmanship from TDA students, and the Living Legacy Award of Distinction in 2014. She has been recognized for contributions to community service and believes that it is extremely important to give back to the community and to teach the children to give as early as possible. Donnajean strives each day to offer a level of dance education and curriculum that is designed to enable each student to attain the goals they set for themselves whether that be weekly enjoyment, a community theater company, a college dance team or a professional performer gracing the stage of Radio City Music Hall, Broadway or perhaps performing around the world on tour. Donnajean considers it a privilege to be able to unlock the studio door each day and share her knowledge and love of dance with the students and their families. In her words, “someone once told me that ‘to teach is to touch a life forever.’ To have the opportunity to make a positive impact on their future generations is of great importance to me.”
Ashton says their mission is to offer professional dance training with a personal touch. The students who enter their studio are at various levels of ability. Whether their students come to them as toddlers or more advanced ballet dancers, TDA’s goal is to instill the love of dance in all who pass through their studio doors. She believes that not only is dance an art, it is also an educational and inspirational experience where through dedicating themselves to this art, their students develop a sense of hard work, discipline and creativity. She says the students acquire the traits not only of proficient dancers, but also those of well-rounded individuals both on and off the stage. The Dance Academy also strives to touch all members of the community. Located in Holland, Pennsylvania, in Central Bucks County, they offer fine art performances throughout the year. In her opinion, these performances demonstrate the impressive talents of their students as well as touch the lives of the watching audience. TDA offers recitals and competition opportunities at The Dance Academy. Their students participate in advertising publications, professional companies and both national and international tours which allow them to spread their passion for dance throughout the world.
Along with a full dance education, many students at TDA are offered the opportunity to participate in competition teams, allowing them to attend some of the finest and most challenging dance competitions in the country. While their school has always achieved high scores in local, regional and national competitions, these competitions take a back seat to their classes, the backbone of a fine dance education. Their completion teams have earned numerous high awards, i.e. their Large group earned 1st place overall at the 2016 Nationals in Hershey and received a standing ovation. Other recent awards include those earned at the 2016 Edge Talent Competition Nationals.\ and numerous awards at the 2015 Showstopper Nationals in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. These are just a few of the many competitions where their dancers made TDA’s teaching team very proud.
Competition teams include lines for tap, jazz, lyrical, and ballet and students attend approximately four competitions each year.
The Dance Academy has secured a place among the finest dance schools in the tristate area making the Philly Hotlist in 2012 and Bucks Happening Winner 2013.
If you would like more information about The Dance Academy, visit their website at thedanceacademybuckscounty.com, email them at TDADance@thedanceacademybuckscounty.com, or call them at ¬(215) 860-9530. You can also “Like” them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and check them out on Instagram.
Anyone who has danced at The Dance Academy, with Ashton Kline-Gebhard or with any of the other instructors at TDA, is invited to comment on our blog.
