Dancery builds community post-Covid

Coming back to the people I consider family, helped me feel a lot better about everything that went on.”

Bridget Schwenker, Baldwin

With bouquets of flowers in hand, parents strolled into a white tent outside Pat’s Dance Studio, founded by Pat Randazzo in 1979. Ballerinas in glittery and colorful outfits giggled and talked in small groups inside the studio, where Director Melanie Vaughan walked back and forth with a walkie-talkie giving directions to setup their fourth show of the day for their first recital post-Covid on Saturday, June 12 at 7 p.m.

Albert Yenque, who’s been watching his daughter dance since kindergarten, said, “It’s great to be able to do this again and see the kids perform as they’ve been working really hard.” Likewise, James Sandford, whose daughter has been in Pat’s Dance Studio since she was three years old and is now a teen, said, “Last year kinda robbed them [the dance students], and my daughter has been here all day helping out younger students.”

Vaughan stated that last year they couldn’t do their annual recital due to Covid restrictions, “Our students worked so hard last year and weren’t able to have a recital.” She also stated, that she hopes “that this [recital] is a step towards normalcy…as Covid took so much away from all of us, especially the students.”

The Roaring Twenties recital was centered around the outgoing seniors in the company, Catherine Farrell, Simone Henderson, Alexis Lindsay, Bridget Schwenker, Sadie Stadler, and Sienna Yenque.

Schwenker, who’s been dancing at Pat’s since she was three years old, discussed coming back to an in-person recital post-Covid, stating, “It was kind of insane the way everything happened. Coming back to the people I consider family, helped me feel a lot better about everything that went on. This makes me feel like my hard work paid off.”

Stadler, who joined the studio in 2010, echoed these sentiments, adding, “I consider this place my second family, so being able to have one last show here makes it even more special.” She also highlighted the uniqueness of Pat’s Dance Studio, stating, “I came here from another studio, and it was like a whole new world.”

The recital portrayed a variety of dance styles, including tap, pointe ballet, jazz, hip-hop, modern, and even theatre, between brief slide shows of each seniors’ candid photos of their tenure in the company, which the parents and teachers alike clapped and cheered for.

The last act of the evening was a Hamilton medley rendition, in which the dancers donned bold colonial costumes and waved American flags, prompting many rounds of cheers and applause and a final standing ovation.

Proceeding this last act, the seniors then gifted their teachers, Melanie Vaughan, Karlee Yanantuono, Jaria Morris, Mary Weber, Gianna Bartolini, and Isabella Rosatone bouquets of flowers after giving tearful speeches of their growing up with these mentors, defining their experiences in the studio as rich in diversity, friendship, self-development, and a sense of family.

The seniors promised that they would come back to Pat’s Dance Studio every now and then to visit, teach, and help, and I believe them!

The studio offers a summer program in August, before starting the September to June session, for which registration opens in August.