Taking a dance step in Elie

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This article was published 29/08/2014 (4096 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You’re never too old to realize your dream of dancing, as Jennifer Mauws knows.
The Elie resident seemed destined for a career with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet when she was 17, but a sudden health crisis forced her off the dance floor, and there she stayed for many years.

“I took a long break,” she said.

She wasn’t involved in dance from age 19 to 32. But when she and her family moved from Winnipeg to Elie in 2004, she began to rethink her self-imposed retirement.

“A girl I knew asked me to teach tap classes,” she said.

Her renewed enthusiasm for dance and recent move inspired her to open Call-It Dance, a dance studio first located in rented space next to Elie’s post office.

“It was something new for the town,” she said. However, there must have been many youngsters and adults harbouring the desire to dance because she had about 30 students during her first year of business.

Last year she was able to rent space in the former Gillis Service Garage at 14 Main St. and worked with her husband to design the studio’s interior. The studio features a waiting area for parents and an office for Mauws, as well as a raised floor and large mirrors mounted on the walls.

“It took all summer to do it, but I love it,” she said.

The second year in Mauws’ new studio is about to start as she follows the school year in terms of holidays. She offers classes in tap and jazz, lyrical dance and hip hop as well as choreographing routines for all her classes and instructing junior and senior competition groups.

Her students range in age from four to over 40, and she said the adult class often has the most students. Last year, about 60 people took classes at Call-It Dance.

“I will challenge the adults too,” she said. Many students from her studio compete in the annual provincial dance festival, Manitoba Dance Showcase and in a Red River Ex’s young performer event.

“I have some people coming from Fort Garry, and one lady who comes from Cartwright,” Mauws said.

Working full-time in information technology, Mauws’ passion for dance leads her to work long hours in her studio which is open from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

This is the first year that she is sharing teaching duties with someone else as she’s hired a Winnipeg resident to teach hip-hop classes.

She doesn’t do any advertising, but depends on word-of-mouth recommendations. She often attracts new students from audiences at her student recitals.

While her work-life balance may be tilted greatly in the direction of work, Mauws said she finds joy and satisfaction in watching her students gain confidence and take the stage.

“I love teaching and I love seeing my girls perform,” she said.

For more information, see http://www.call-itdance.ca/index.html

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