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Pearsall Dance Centre closes after more than five decades

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Normally talkative and cheerful, Bellmorite Margaret Pearsall suddenly turned quiet and sorrowful. “Don’t start,” she said. “Don’t bring that up. It’s very sad. There are a lot of tears. It’s very sad.”

She was speaking of the moment when she at last closed the doors on the famed Pearsall Dance Centre. The studio shuttered in June after 17 years on Merrick Road in Bellmore –– and 55 years as a community institution.
Through the decades, the Pearsall Centre taught hundreds, even thousands, of local children lessons in dance –– and life.

Pearsall opened the Merrick Road studio in 1999 with her daughter, Kerri Pearsall. Both were Radio City Music Hall Rockettes –– Margaret for five years, Kerri for 19.

The Herald covered the opening of the Pearsall Centre in the Sept. 9, 1999, issue: “The adage ‘like mother, like daughter’ rings especially true when applied to Margaret and Kerri Pearsall, co-owners of the Pearsall Dance Centre,” the story began. “The pair share a bond that only six other mothers and daughters have: Both have danced for the internationally renowned Rockettes … Now, as dance instructors at their own studio, at 2698 Merrick Road, the two are discovering that they hold a common love for teaching.”

This year, they both decided to retire.

The studio’s beginnings were humble. Margaret and her husband, Joseph Pearsall, had Kerri, the youngest of their four children, in 1961. That same year, Joseph converted the family’s garage and den into a dance studio, complete with a raised wooden floor. Margaret began with a handful of students, which grew to dozens over the years. Kerri learned to dance at home under her mother’s patient tutelage. Shortly after graduating from Kennedy High School in Bellmore, she became a featured performer in the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. She went on to travel the country and as far as Japan with the Rockettes.

The Pearsalls opened the Merrick Road studio after Kerri retired from the Rockettes. Oversized photos of her and her mother performing with the famed troupe graced the walls of the Pearsall Centre through the years. “The only difference among the photos is that Kerri’s are in color, Margaret’s are in black and white,” the Herald’s 1999 story noted.

Margaret Pearsall began dancing at age 2. At 18, she struck out for New York City from Vancouver, British Columbia, hoping to make it big. And that she did. Good thing. She had left Canada with just $300 in her pocket.

By chance, she ran into a woman who was auditioning for the Rockettes. She asked whether she could accompany her. The rest is history.

She joined the Rockettes in 1949 and remained through 1953. During that time, she met and married Joseph. She left the troupe when she became pregnant with her first child. “Most women left when they had children,” Margaret said.
In addition to Kerri, the Pearsalls’ three other children include Maria Musgnung, Lori Grisanti and Brett Pearsall.

Margaret is retiring from work entirely. Kerri, the mother of two adult children, will continue teaching a handful of the Pearsall Centre’s teenage students until they graduate from high school. She is renting space at another studio for the next year or two.

The Pearsalls, who taught a range of dance classes, from ballet to jazz, never emphasized dance competitions, as many schools do. They said they wanted their students to express their artistic sides without worrying about the perfection required for contests. They wanted the children to have fun.

That led to multiple generations within families taking classes with the Pearsalls. Take Mary Alice Tyler, for example. She was featured in the Herald’s 1999 piece on the Pearsall Centre. She studied with Margaret Pearsall at her home studio from 1970 to 1978. In 1999, her two daughters –– Brianne, 6, and Erin, 3 –– were enrolled at the Pearsall Centre. Margaret Pearsall, Tyler said, “is a wonderful person. She is very caring with the children. She treats them with respect, and she expects them to treat her that way.”

“We’re more family-oriented,” Margaret said shortly before the Pearsall Centre at last closed. “It’s a warmer feel.”

“It’s all about the community,” Kerri added. “It’s about doing for the community.” Pearsall Centre students regularly performed at community events such as the Bellmore Family Street Festival, held annually in the fall.

“I always said the kids had enough competition in school,” Kerri said. “I always wanted them to be free and enjoy it stress-free.”

And that they did. No doubt, the Pearsal Centre will be missed by many.