At 10, A New Name and Venue for Central City Dance

Tim and Tammy Smola have taken a big but graceful leap into a much larger space for their dance studio. More than than, they are expanding the types of classes offered to include non-dance options: acting, modeling and fitness, from serene yoga lessons to the new energetic Latin-dance-influenced zumba. All of it comes with a slighter longer name: .

When the Smolas started their dance-lesson business, they had about 300 students and used a 3,000-square-foot space on Sheldon Center Road. Over the years, more students led to two expansions, but when it came time to renew their lease, making a move made more sense.

Township support

In April, the Smolas bought a building at 6700 N. Canton Center Rd. The new building boasts a prop room, storage room, employee lounge, cafe (with free wireless service) and six studios — many with state-of-the-art floors, called floating floors, which minimize the risk the foot and ankle injuries. In January, the Smolas expect to open a dancewear shop inside the building. Mostly the building's 17,500-square-foot space can comfortably accommodate nearly 1,000 students, 65 of which are boys who study everything from ballet to hip hop.

Many Canton Township employees have aided Central City Dance over the years, Tim Smola said, from Kathleen Salla, Director, who "encouraged us to join the Canton Chamber of Commerce before we even opened for business" to township building department employee Lori Puma, who helped the Smolas sort though township regulations and building blueprints.

'First-class operation'

Katie Bovitz, whose daughters Allison, 8, and Jillian, 6, are Central City dance students, said she particularly likes "how much they support the community and give back to the community. It's a first-class operation."

Central City students perform not only in the studio's own annual Christmas Spectacular show — so popular that the upcoming eighth annual show has added performance dates  — but during Canton's annual , and the 's annual fundraising party.

In April, the Smolas accepted Canton Township's first Distinguished Service to the Arts Award.

A Central City ribbon-cutting date with the Canton Chamber of Commerce is being planned, as are two open houses — one for the business community and one for the dance community, particularly university students, Tim Smola said.

Whether for township-sponsored functions or in the studio, students like to perform, Tim Smola said. For those who like to dance competitively, Central City has a series of classes.

But he said the emphasis is on performance, not competition. To that end, the Smolas are already planning to host a dance conference in February, featuring master-level classes with guest teachers.

Central City students come from beyond Canton, Tim Smola said, including as far as Brighton and Saline.

Adding non-dance classes

Along with the new building are expanded class offerings. Debbie Pletzer is leading the company's first acting classes, something Smola said he'd like to see grow enough to support a theater troupe and add modeling classes to a growing list of class options, which include yoga and zumba lessons, among other non-dance offerings. With that in mind, one of the studios will function as a space for small-scale stage productions.

The Smolas also plan on renting the studios, either one at a time or as a complete package. Potential clients include dance majors at any of the nearby universities who will need space for working on their final exams to groups willing to rent all the studios and the cafe for everything from family parties to corporate or academic gatherings.

In between those one-time events, the hundreds of students who pass through Central City's doors each day will continue to focus on elemental dance moves.

Registration continues through the end of October — later than is typical, he said, to accommodate a 2-month delay in Central City's move. Dance students pay anywhere from $28.50 per month to attended a single type of class or up to $200 for as many as eight kinds of classes. Discounts are applied to multiple classes, Tim Smola  said.