Mission Coffee House – a shop with purpose
Spinning up fun at Back to the Vinyl’s new location
September 9, 2024
DE PERE – Celebration Dance is expanding its reach with a downtown De Pere location (127 N. Broadway) opening in early October.
The new boutique dance studio will open in the building known as The Vault, which originated as a bank.
The location – which features an abundance of natural light and wood floors – Owner Kirsty Gungor said, will complement the three studios featured at Celebration Dance’s location inside Celebration Church at 3475 Humboldt Rd. in Green Bay.
A bit of background
Gungor said Celebration Dance began in 2008 when she and her family moved to Green Bay. Pregnant with her second son at the time, Gungor said though she wanted to be a full-time mom, she also wanted to keep a toe in the dance world.
Gungor said her formal dance training began at age four at the Royal Academy of Dance in South Africa – where she grew up until her family moved to the United States when she was 15 years old.
Upon arriving in the U.S., Gungor said she continued training, maintaining a classic ballet focus, but adding contemporary, modern and jazz to her repertoire – developing a love for the heart and soul in dance expression in the process.
“I had been training in a rigid, disciplined environment but was introduced to a whole new world of dance that was a lot more fun,” she said.
Gungor said she remained just as passionate about teaching dance as she was dancing herself.
This, she said, led to the launch of Celebration Dance – initially teaching friends’ children.
“There were only a handful of classes in the beginning,” she said. “I never did it without the intention for it to be a studio.”
That is, Gungor said until her husband – who she describes as a very business-minded person – pointed out she was teaching dance to 100 children.
And, she said, warranted taking the business more seriously.
Until that point, Gungor said she was teaching dance on Celebration Church’s basketball courts.
Eventually, Celebration Dance moved into other rooms at the church, mirrors were installed on the walls and the Celebration Dance family of dancers continued to grow.
Gungor said she experienced more growing pains and a need to change some of her business practices in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic – when she had to take a lot of her business operations online.
“That’s when I had to pivot,” she said. “COVID pushed me into putting registration and tuition payment online, and it prompted me to open a second studio in our space. With those two things, we had tremendous growth.”
Gungor said the growth continued, and in 2022, Celebration Dance opened its third studio within the church.
All three studio spaces are open six days a week, and welcome a steady flow of dancers.
“It amazes me because it was never my intention for it to be a studio, but I just had the most amazing friends and dance moms who spread the word,” she said. “Today, there are more than 600 registrations per season (students may take more than one class).”
Branching out
The new, smaller De Pere location, Gungor said, will focus on classes for ages three to 10.
The studio, she said, will allow Celebration Dance to open up some of its waiting lists, offer convenience for De Pere area families who want a location closer to home and appeal to families who may not have heard about Celebration Dance or weren’t sure about participating in a dance studio housed inside a church.
“We had wanted a second location for years, but just hadn’t found the right space,” she said. “Then, we found it. Now we can serve families from the area with a smaller age group, smaller schedule and welcome families who were a little unsure about our other location.”
Students, Gungor said, begin with ballet, which serves as the foundation for all dance.
“It is the backbone of everything we do,” she said. “And, we get to have the fun of learning how it is an outlet of expression with beautiful opportunities to be onstage.”
The Green Bay studios also offer ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, hip hop, adult tap and children’s dance – and will continue to serve pre-professional dance students.
“We love to give the girls the opportunity to be well-rounded and versatile in all those styles, but we encourage ballet because it sets them up in terms of technique and helps them develop as a strong dancer in every style,” she said.
Both locations, Gungor said, will operate from Celebration Dance’s core Christian values, which include:
- Dancing with integrity and kindness, especially during times of frustration
- Being family friendly with innovative, but modest costuming
- Age-appropriate music and moves
- Mentorship, including student ambassadors who serve as role models for younger students
- A welcoming, non-competitive space
“We have incredible teachers who teach excellent technique and require hard work and discipline, but we also want to nurture an environment where hard work meets joy,” Gungor said. “That is something I didn’t get to experience (in dance) growing up, and I have tried to build a place where students can have a balance of those things.”
In addition, Gungor said the environment is intentionally non-competitive, providing all dancers the same creative attention in class and in choreography.
Teachers, she said, are fastidious about technique and helping students reach their full potential while nurturing the art of dance and their love for it.
For students who are thinking of a potential career in dance, Gungor said Celebration Dance does offer both a ballet company and contemporary companies.
In the past two years, this has included bringing in a Mississippi dance company that hosted ballet intensives for students and the community.
The studio, Gungor said, has also brought in companies from Madison and Colorado.
“When we can make that work, we like to bring in trusted companies,” she said.
Gungor said they complement the Celebration Dance’s 11 staff members (including herself and a studio administrator) – several of whom are former students who now teach.
“We have student teachers who trained with me for several years, then assisted, substituted and, when ready, taught a class,” she said. “For them to return to teach is amazing – they are an incredible addition, the kids love and respect them and they are creative and wonderful dancers themselves.”
In addition, Celebration Dance hosts two much-anticipated performances in winter and spring in the performing arts center housed at Celebration Church.
“Instead of competitions, we host the winter performance and a spring ballet company that the girls can audition for called Belonging Youth Ballet, featuring original choreography and music in a story ballet,” she said. “It’s just gorgeous with the sets and the costumes.”
Gungor said parents appreciate the family-friendly approach of Celebration Dance – including the studio’s vibe, which focuses on being a caring, supportive and safe space to take dance.
She said she has seen it all, from the highs and lows adolescent girls experience in middle school to the demands of school, work, relationships and home.
“They find that coming to the studio, they are able to focus on what they’re doing and feel all those good feelings and let go of that outside noise,” she said. “I have seen that affect them in so many positive ways, from wonderful relationships made in the space or the dance itself.”
Ready to dance
Gungor said the new season of dance begins in October and continues through the school year, with a second enrollment period in January.
In addition, Celebration Dance hosts a short, eight-week session that she said is popular with families in the summer.
Word of mouth and social media continue to create awareness, so much so that Gungor hasn’t dabbled in any advertising.
Over the years, Gungor said she has come to appreciate the importance of delegating.
“For a really long time, I did everything,” she said. “I had to learn to let people support me – first, a studio administrator, then a business manager and teachers. I had a really big learning moment when I let go of the control, brought others into the fold and championed them. This has been a big lesson for me, and it’s been wonderful.”
Gungor said she is mindful that having a great team has allowed her to step away as needed to spend more time with her family – including her husband, three teenage boys and 11-year-old daughter.
“I’m so grateful as I cherish that time with my kids,” she said.
As for her “other” kids – the ones in her student populace – Gungor said she is excited to see them in action in the new studio soon.
“I can’t wait to get them in there, especially the little ones whose classes are so much fun with ribbons, butterfly wings and fun props,” she said. “And who wouldn’t be, with that gorgeous space? We are definitely excited about the opportunity.”
For more, visit celebrationdance.com.
