Longtime dance performer and teacher Melanie Naumann of Eureka Springs is high stepping into a new role as the owner of the Elite Dance Studios in Berryville.
“In addition to people in the Berryville area, I hope to pull a lot of Eureka people there, old students and new, as well,” Naumann said. “I’m really excited about meshing the two communities.” For the past 24 years Elite Dance Studios has been owned by Kathy and Toby Mock.
“They were really well known in the community,” Naumann said. “There is also an Elite Dance Studio in Fayetteville that their daughters, Emily and Virginia, run. I’m taking over the reins for the Berryville location, but we are two separate businesses now.”
Naumann started dancing when she was four years old. Growing up in Dallas, she was always moving, being part of the cheerleading, drill and dance teams.
“I also started my theater career in middle school and pretty much never stopped that,” she said. “And then I moved to Portland, Oregon, and after high school and college and all through my twenties I danced, taught, and was a professional modern dancer at a dance company in Portland.”
Naumann moved to Eureka Springs in 2006 and took over as program director at Main Stage Creative Community Center. She ran the after-school art programs for a few years, and directed plays with local kids including, Candyland, Annie, Wizard of Oz and Alice In Wonderland. She also had a dance program at Enthios before opening Soul Motion Studio in downtown Eureka Springs 2009. And she was the artistic director and fire performer with the Violetta Lotus dance troop for five years.
Naumann and Julie Viglietti will be teaching dance and yoga classes, and there are teachers in training.
“We will be offering dance for all ages and have an extensive class list for dance, theater and yoga,” Naumann said. “I’m beyond excited for this next chapter in my life and to keep such an amazing business going that has been teaching dance for more than twenty years!”
Naumann particularly likes introducing the youngest children to dance, theater and music. She teaches a “little movers” class for babies to three years old that includes singing, storytelling, dancing and play. She plans combo classes like tap, ballet, jazz and hip hop/tumbling for ages as young as three.
“I do well with the little bitties,” she said. “They do lots of fun things in our classes. We also have a few adult classes and plan to add more in the future, as well as cheer and competitive cheer programs.”
Recitals at Elite Dance Studios have been well attended in earlier years, and a recital is planned next spring. Naumann said she also plans on a handful of fall theater productions.
“We are going to be working on Annie this fall, and will be performing that somewhere in Eureka and somewhere in Berryville,” she said.
Naumann is married to Yahkie Naumann, and the couple has a seven-month-old baby, Teviana. Son William Linker, 9, is also interested in theater and choir and has been in a handful of productions. He has been rehearsing for the musical Willo Mancifoot written by Valerie Damon, and Naumann is helping with choreography for that.
Naumann also plans to host dance parties for birthdays, bachelorette parties and special events at Elite Dance Studies. She plans to start 40 students in classes starting Sept. 5. Enrollment begins Aug. 14, and there will be a studio tour and sign up for classes Aug. 26 from 10 a.m. to noon. Students can also enroll online and in person before Sept. 5 by calling (479) 981-0850. View the fall schedule at www.eliteberryville.com