Coming this summer, Hixon Dance will have a new studio to call home! Located in the north Beechwold area of Clintonville and centrally located on High Street directly across from the Graceland Shopping Centre, our new facility features ample parking, two dance studios with floor to ceiling windows, restrooms, and waiting areas.
We will use the new space to expand our community dance education program and performing ensemble activities.
Don't miss our open house 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 14! You're invited to visit the new space and learn more about available classes and upcoming performances. Classes will begin Aug. 23, with enrollment available throughout the summer.
For the past four years, Hixon Dance has been offering an exceptional dance education program to the Columbus community, serving ages 3 through adult. The brainchild of Artistic Director Sarah Hixon and Education Director Dr. Rachael Riggs Leyva, the program is grounded in Modern dance techniques and principles as well as somatic practices. Students are encouraged to think like artists and develop their own creative voice from whatever age they join.
“We really want to offer the kind of dance program that we wish had been available to us as young dancers growing up in a studio setting,” Hixon says. “Our values are fundamental to our classes, and those include building an inclusive community that encourages collaboration, creativity, and self-esteem.”
Hixon Dance showcases those values through classes with a variety of techniques and styles, and instructors who share their deep knowledge of dance with students of all ages and ability levels. One such class, “Dancing Mindfulness,” is a facilitated movement meditation experience that encourages physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
“There are many dance studios or dance academies whose programs are just not a good fit for everyone,” says Dr. Rachael Riggs Leyva, education director. “This program welcomes children, teens and adults who are looking for a dance class that allows them to be uniquely themselves. We love the ideas and energy that each individual brings into the studio, and we encourage them to question everything and to be curious.”
“It opens up so many possibilities for us to enrich our work and seek out deeper collaborations with other artists,” Hixon says. “We haven’t had our own space since 2010, so this is a terrific moment.”
Understanding the need for affordable rehearsal space in the community, we plan to make the studios available to other local arts organizations and independent artists, too.
“I know how hard it can be to make work when you are just starting out as an artist,” Hixon says. “It is really important to me that as a community we provide space for emerging artists.”
