MONROE — Over the past 30 years she has operated Connecticut Dance, Newtown resident Andrea Stratford has helped countless students pointe, pirouette, tap, and hip-hop their way to greater self-confidence and poise, while helping launch more than a few professional dance careers and giving back countless smiles, oooohs, and aaaahhhs to audiences large and small across the region.

Ms Stratford, who serves as executive and artistic director for her dance academy, is currently based in the Clocktower Plaza at 477 Main Street in neighboring Monroe. As she recently explained to The Newtown Bee, her love of dance and exposing others to the art is virtually lifelong.

“I knew at seven years old when my mom took me for my first dance lesson,” Ms Stratford recalled. “When she picked me up and asked me how I liked it, I said ‘that’s what I’m going to do, mom.’ And that’s what I’ve done for the rest of my life — I’ve been a dancer and a dance teacher.”

Her 30th anniversary season, which is in its second of three trimesters now, will culminate in a recital on the boards of Bridgeport’s Klein Memorial Auditorium next spring.

Following years of lessons and sustaining a dance major at SUNY Buffalo, Ms Stratford went on to dance professionally and eventually choreograph for musicals and dance reviews for about five years.

“Then I went back to teaching, and I wanted to teach for myself,” she said. “I had done a dance review at a resort in Reno, Philadelphia, for cruise lines, and in St Thomas [Virgin Islands] resort, before I decided to reconnect teaching and have a family,” she said.

“I did work for a few other studios, but I jumped into doing a lot of choreography for local theater groups, too,” she said. “Throughout that time, I constantly had people coming to me saying I should open my own place.”

Ms Stratford said Connecticut Dance is committed to keeping a lot of her lessons simple, at least as newcomers are acclimating to the lessons.

“If you keep it simple, you can keep it clean,” she said, thinking back to one of her most recent activities with elementary school students from the Sandy Hook School in Newtown. “They really wanted a group of boys, so I decided to entice them by doing a version of “Seize the day” from Newsies.

“We kept the dancing and costuming fun and made it as exciting as possible for the boys with these big slides and moves like that, which was really fun,” she added.

Ms Stratford agreed that using simple moves promotes an overall precision that is not only fun to watch, but fun to do. That is not to say her more advanced students are not challenged. One recent visit to her studio found Ms Stratford working on a holiday program with a dozen teen students.

Although seemingly complex, she led the group when necessary and frequently turned from facing the room-length mirror in one of her several studios to watch individuals who she then patiently coached or tweaked on one or more of the various moves and patterns the dancers were creating.

Keeping It Fresh

Another challenge that Ms Stratford looks forward to is making changes and discovering new ideas and material to share with her students.

“After 30 years, I have to continually keep making it fun for them and for me — if I’m not having fun, then nobody is having fun,” she said. “There are some basics you need to know before you veer off with variation, but you can also make basic steps a lot more fun by simply changing the music.”

Ms Stratford said she sees the best results by dividing classes by age and skill level.

“Especially with the younger ones — if there’s too broad an age range, more than two years, there can just be such a difference in skill level that it doesn’t make sense,” she said. “The difference between a three-year-old and six-year-old can be tremendous.”

That said, Ms Stratford starts seeing opportunities to match younger teens with an older group — especially when they show significant skill and promise.

“Going into middle school, I see the dancers finding their focus — really zooming in on ballet or tap — or they decide they want to just dance recreationally while they do something more academic-focused,” she said. “Which is great because they still stay involved and it’s great exercise and a nice social activity.”

Although Connecticut Dance is in the middle of its 30th season, she said she is still taking new students. Her creative dance class is ideal for four and five-year-old beginners, while her ballet / tap program is set up for three age ranges. She expands into Jazz lessons for students age 10 and older.

While she offers a limited Irish dance program, her Hip-Hop and Lyrical dance classes are very popular with students as young as five. Beginner classes also get their own studio recital while the Klein event is reserved for more advanced students.

Keeping It Clean

Regarding the Hip-Hop program, Ms Stratford strives for fun, while steering clear of music, lyrics, and choreography that she deems inappropriate.

“What some of these kids are seeing on videos, I would really never emulate here,” she said. “The music we choose has to have non-explicit lyrics, which is really counter to what I’m trying to teach the kids. We do take suggestions, but we’re not into suggestive lyrics. And there are so many hip-hop styles that are great and go well with appropriate music material.”

Summer programs include ballet intensives along with regular classes, and an opportunity for students to participate in a fully staged production of a classic ballet.

While Ms Stratford says her’s is “a non-competitive school,” Connecticut Dance has a Performance Troupe and Performance Company — a “by Invitation” group of dancers ages 7-18 who learn and perfect multiple dances of various genres.

These pieces are then performed at local charity events and surrounding nursing homes. Throughout the season, the dancers enhance their performance skills and mature as dancers as well as learn how important and rewarding it is to give back to the community.

“I’m thankful for being able to turn my passion into a career and the opportunity to be creative every day” she said. Over the past 30 years running my business, I have been extremely blessed to be a part of so many families’ lives sharing my love of dance.”

Ms Stratford said giving back to the community that has been so kind to her is a vital part of what she and her Connecticut Dance team does.

“Our two most recent fundraisers; our Holiday show benefiting Brady’s Smile and our Company and Performance Troupe Showcase that benefited The Tyler Robinson Foundation, were our most successful fundraising events to date,” she said. “Dancing to a sold-out house is always exciting.

“One of the proudest moments I feel is when alumni dancers return with their own children excited to continue for the next generation,” Ms Stratford added. “I look forward to the excitement of the next 30 years.”

Learn more by visiting connecticutdance.com, the studio’s Facebook page, or calling 203-261-1347.