Terilynne Knox (David Boraks photo)

On a list of things that make Davidson unique, you’d have to include Dance Davidson, the traditional dance school started 23 years ago by Terilynne Muehleisen Knox (photo).

The school is a home-grown success story, no matter how you look at it. From a business standpoint, it has thrived and grown. It recently moved to 140 Jackson St. next to the post office, a home that for the first time it owns rather than leases.

From an artistic perspective, it has won respect from both audiences and dancers (and their parents), in part because of its focus on technique and discipline. About 700 students now participate in 14 classes a day with nine teachers.

“I’m lucky where I am,” Ms. Knox said in a recent interview at the new studio. “The people in the area appreciate the kind of dance that we offer.”

Dance schools can succeed with a variety of approaches, she said, noting that Dance Davidson may not satisfy everyone. But it’s good at what it does. “We focus on technique rather than competitions and beauty pageants,” she said.

HISTORY

As a young dancer, Ms. Knox trained with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, Pa., and later with the Bristol (Va.) Ballet, while attending Virginia Intermont College. She danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet from 1976 to 1978.

In 1983, she moved to Davidson and began teaching dance here. Her first classes were through a short-lived program called ArtWorks. When that group folded, she went off on her own in 1984 to form what is now Dance Davidson. She taught dance and senior exercise classes at Ada Jenkins Center.

Dance Davidson moved a couple of times, first to Davidson Town Hall for several years and then briefly to the Legion building in Cornelius for a year. Eventually, Ms. Knox found permanent space off Beaty Street in the back of the Liburdi Dimetrics plant.

But in recent years, the school stretched the limits of that space. When the building on Jackson Street became available, she jumped at the chance to take it over.

“I wanted to move back downtown,” Ms. Knox said. “The kids can walk here from the elementary school and the IB school (Davidson IB Middle School). Their parents can go downtown to the Soda Shop and coffee shop.”

The new studios also have a separate dressing room, which the old home did not have. And there are one-way observation windows in each studio.

WHAT’S COMING UP

Besides classes during the traditional school year, Dance Davidson stages two major performances a year (December and May) and runs a series of summer dance classes and arts camps.

Performances feature a combination of student dancers and members of the school’s own Ballet Company and Jazz/Modern Company, who audition for spots each year. Students from Ms. Knox’s companies have gone on to further study at colleges, dance academies and the N.C. School of the Arts.

The next big show will be “Mary Poppins,” Sunday, May 27.

Meanwhile, registration for summer is underway now. For a schedule, go to the Dance Davidson website, CLICK HERE>

For more information about Dance Davidson, call 704-892-5632, or go to its website, CLICK HERE>