Published: September 30, 2007 09:39 pm            

Sessions keep dancers on their toes

Tammy Jo's Studio students receive instruction from California teachers

Lee Ward/The Independent

Greenup — From pirouette to pas de deux and then some, dancers at Tammy Jo’s Studio got a workout over the weekend when two choreographers from a Los Angeles studio spent four days providing intensive training to dancers.

Terry Schulke and her daughter, Mandy Schulke, from Just Plain Dancin’ in Riverside, Calif., taught routines of various styles to a wide age range of students of the studio.

Terry Schulke said this is the fifth or sixth trip she’s made to work with Tammy Jo’s Studio and is very familiar with the skill level of students there.

“They’re excellent dancers and are open to whatever we bring to them,” she said. “They’re very interested in the kind of choreography we do.”

Jazz, lyrical and modern styles of dance, as well as ballet, are included in the routines they worked on during the weekend with students of Tammy Jo’s Studio and students of the foundation arm of the studio, the River Cities Dance Company. During their stay, the Schulkes worked with dance teams from Greenup County and Russell high schools, too.

Schulke said she and her daughter make eight or 10 such trips to studios across the country to work with dance students. They came to visit this area after Tammy Jo’s owner, Tammy Jo Edge, saw them perform and approached them. The Schulkes and Edge also worked together on the judging circuit.

“I love the studio here,” Terry Schulke said. “It’s great to come to Kentucky.”

Natalie Pence of Tammy Jo’s Studio said the Schulkes taught students as young as 8, and the lessons included technique, tricks and jumps. Movement, agility and flexibility were also stressed.

“They are so well-versed and well-respected in the dance world,” Pence said.

The Schulkes have worked with dancers who perform in Celine Dion’s Las Vegas shows and have choreographed for the television program “Star Search.”