For nearly 50 years, Donna Carbone’s Dance Arts has been a place where children learned ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and hip-hop. But for the generations of dancers, teachers and families who have passed through its doors, the Merrick studio has become something much larger: a second home, a lifelong friendship and, for many, a family tradition.
As Dance Arts prepares to celebrate its 50th season, those who have known Donna Schaeffer, nee Hardgrove, the longest say the milestone is about far more than the number of years Dance Arts has been in business.
It is about the people the studio has brought together and the lasting influence Donna has had on their lives.
Elaine Herro has known Donna since they were teenagers. Herro described the milestone as a reflection not only of Donna's accomplishments as a teacher, but the relationships she has built along the way.
“How many people have an accomplishment like this? You are truly an amazing teacher, woman and friend like no other,” Herro shared in a personal message to Donna. “How blessed am I to have had you in my life since I was 12 years old.”
That kind of longevity is a recurring theme among the people who know Dance Arts best. Some have been connected to the studio for nearly as long as it has existed.
Joanne Maniscalso Krogman walked through Dance Arts’ doors when it opened in September 1977 after following Donna from her previous studio. “I never imagined what a profound impact this place would have on my life,” Krogman said. “Dance Arts has been a constant in my life and I’m forever grateful.”
What began as a dance studio became something more enduring. “This business she started 50 years ago has turned into a family and I’m thrilled and proud to have been a part of the journey,” Krogman said.
Krogman also captured one of the qualities that has allowed Dance Arts to welcome students with different ambitions and abilities.
“Whether Broadway-bound or just enthusiastic, she welcomed all dancers and helped us be our best,” she said. “All of us take a little of what she taught us into the world and it’s a better place because of that.”
Megan Flynn Gutheil also began at Dance Arts in 1977. Nearly five decades later, she still considers the studio an important part of her life.
“More than a dance studio, Dance Arts is a place I have called home for most of my life and a second family I love so much,” Gutheil wrote to the Herald.
For Gutheil, the significance of the milestone is inseparable from the relationships formed there.
“I am truly blessed by my years at Dance Arts,” she wrote. “Thank you, Donna, for being such an incredible teacher, mentor and friend. I owe you so much and am honored to have been a part of the Dance Arts family from the beginning.”
That sense of belonging has continued through successive generations.
Kristin Gutheil Schwarz has been involved with Dance Arts since the early days, and cannot imagine life without it.
“Friendships that span decades, a shared passion that never fades and the joy of watching my daughter learn to dance in the same space I did — all because of Donna,” Schwarz said. “So much has changed, and yet it’s still the same — Dance Arts is a studio filled with people who just love to dance!”
That generational connection is one of the clearest measures of Donna’s legacy. Students who once stood in her classes have returned as teachers. Former dancers have brought their own children. Others have moved away but continue to maintain friendships formed at the studio.
Tammy Venti, who continues to teach at Dance Arts, began dancing there at age three. She has now spent 49 years with the studio.
“With each passing year, Donna continues to teach, support, encourage and inspire all those who walk through the Dance Arts doors,” Venti wrote. “Since I started, Donna has filled her studio with some of the best people I have ever known.”
Venti described the transformation that happens within the studio as one of Donna’s greatest accomplishments.
“Teachers and dancers — strangers who have become friends, friends who have become family,” she wrote. “This is a true testament to the foundation on which Donna has built Dance Arts — beauty, integrity and love.”
For Venti, the studio has been a constant for almost her entire life. “I have been fortunate to call Dance Arts my home away from home for the past 49 years,” she wrote. “Not many people can say they've had the passion, love and desire to be somewhere for so long.”
Longtime dancer and former teacher Jenny Lawrence remembers walking into the studio almost 50 years ago.
“Donna created my home away from home — full of love for dance and one another,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence credits Donna not only with developing her abilities as a dancer, but recognizing her potential.
“Donna saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Lawrence said. “She challenged me to be my best — to dig down deep to express who I was — and to have the courage to be vulnerable all while expressing my soul through dance.”
That influence extended into Lawrence’s own teaching career. “I would never have known my love for teaching without Donna’s tutelage,” she said. “I thank her for trusting me with the young dancers and for the blessing of watching them grow while finding their passions.”
Miriam Cachia, who spent 25 years at Dance Arts as a student and teacher before moving away, remembers arriving at the studio as a nervous young dancer after studying at a strict Russian ballet school.
“Everyone was so friendly and loved to be there, including myself,” Cachia wrote. “I looked forward to my weekly ballet classes, and soon enough started to take lyrical and jazz as well.”
Eventually, Donna offered her the opportunity to teach ballet and pointe. “Donna has taught me so much,” Cachia wrote. “I definitely wanted to follow in her footsteps as a great mentor, teacher and choreographer.”
Cachia said Dance Arts ultimately became part of her identity. “Dance Arts was my second home, my second family,” she wrote.
Longtime student Lindsey Summer similarly credits Donna with helping shape her into the teacher and choreographer she became.
“Donna has taught me so much and I appreciate everything I have ever learned from her,” Summer wrote. “I have grown as a choreographer because she always believed in me and challenged me to step out of my comfort zone.”
For Summer, the friendships formed there have lasted as strongly as the dance training. “Dance Arts is not only a dance studio, it’s our home away from home,” she wrote. “Because of Donna, Dance Arts friends are the best kinds of friends. It doesn’t matter how many years pass by, we are and will always be family.”
That may ultimately be the most enduring measure of Donna’s five decades in business. The studio has changed, expanded and adapted to new generations, but the relationships remain.
Carrie Chibnik Dale, who joined Donna as a business partner in 2018, has spent virtually her entire life connected to Dance Arts. She began dancing there at age five and has missed only four recitals — one year while in college, her wedding, and her two pregnancies.
“I’ve never not known it,” Dale said of Dance Arts.
Now, she sees the studio’s legacy from a different perspective.
What Dale can carry forward is the community Donna created — one in which former students return, teachers become friends and children become the next generation of dancers.
“This has been one of the greatest privileges of my whole life,” Dale said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better second act.”
As Dance Arts approaches its 50th season, the anniversary belongs to everyone who has helped fill its studios, stages and hallways over the decades.
But at the center of it all remains the woman who opened the doors in 1977 and never stopped showing up.
For those who have spent their lives dancing with her, the legacy is already clear.
As Lawrence recalled one of Donna’s enduring sayings: “Once a dancer always a dancer!”
For thousands of former and current Dance Arts students, that may be the simplest description of what Donna created — a place that stays with you long after the music stops.
