Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Gant.
Katherine, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2008, I founded Refuge Dance Company, a non-profit, professional dance company after meeting so many dancers looking for a place to call home. I was taking open classes around Atlanta and saw the need and decided to fill it. Having the company was great but I was constantly asked if, I worked with students too, or where was I teaching so they could train with me because they loved what they saw in the company. Sadly, I was able to offer that and would laugh at the idea of opening a studio.
But, here we are and we’ve done just that!
It started around a dining room table with a silly conversation about how I would love to be able to train students the way I felt was the right way, to be free to create my own training curriculum and share my joy of dance with them. A dear friend of ours said, “Why not do it now?” We started talking about all the pros and cons, then the next day I was looking through glass windows at commercial properties for rent, calling about mirrors and barres for sell. I think it was less than a month after that conversation around the table and the lease was signed and our LLC formed and we were in build-out phrase. We tend to not play around once we make up our minds!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, the idea was conceived in May, the lease was signed in June and we got the keys in July and we had our grand opening August 14th. 3 months to go from idea to business, from blank commercial space to a completed dance studio with not 1 but 2 studio spaces…. yeah, it was a wild ride! But, I am really lucky to be doing Refuge Dance Academy with my husband David. Together, we are able to conquer pretty much anything! He was great with the business details, the website and even the layout and design of our space. But there were lots, and lots of late nights spent at the studio, painting, building, passing out fliers and setting everything up. We were fortunate not to have any major problems that set us back. And even our company helped in the process. They came in, helped lay the floor, used power drills and picked up paint brushes and of course, we paid them… with pizza and donuts! But, it just underscores what Refuge Dance is all about, community and family.
Refuge Dance Academy – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Like Refuge Dance Company before it, Refuge Dance Academy was founded out of a desire for the dance studio to be a safe place for dancers to move and grow. Founders Katherine and David Gant were both blessed to experience this type of environment when they were younger and now carry on this legacy as they work to make Refuge Dance Academy a place where excellence in training is married with authentic faith in an encouraging and inspiring community of young dancers, parents and faculty – all working together to allow each dancer to succeed.
We specialize in professional ballet training with a focus on developing the artist within each dancer. We offer ballet classes for children ages 2 and up, modern and contemporary and jazz classes as well. We also have open adult classes that are drop-in and perfect for beginners or professional dancers. Refuge Dance Company make sit home at Refuge Dance Academy which allows for our younger students to see working, professional dancers doing what they aspire to do on weekly basis.
I think what sets us apart from others is our focus on teaching Practice does not make perfect, but rather progress. Regardless of the dancer’s age, we purposefully encourage the dancers to focus on making and celebrating progress rather than striving for the unattainable – perfection. Through teamwork and a focus on family, we train the whole dancer with focus monthly goals, character qualities, and attributes. Students see their progress grow each month through clear goals. Parents see what their children are working on each month on our focus board and are able to partner with us in reinforcing the hope and joy that consistent measurable progress brings to all of us.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
This may sound silly, but when the truck arrived to deliver our Marley dance floor! I always would say “if only I owned Marley I’d have my own studio…” And then, there it was and I did! It was soooooo heavy too, took 4 of us to carry it into the studio plus the truck driver even took pity on us and helped us carry it. That stuff is no joke!
But I guess, finally having a space to call my own where my family can be a part of what I do has been the best. I love being able to share my love of dance with my children, my students and their families. Family is important and we want everyone to feel at home when they come to the studio. We have a huge a lobby and comfy couches and toys and coffee! I love to see moms and dads and sibling enjoying their time too, sometimes they don’t want to leave!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2217 Roswell Rd. Suite 116
Marietta, GA 30062 - Website: www.refugedance.org
- Phone: 678-630-9600
- Email: info@refugedance.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/refugedanceacademy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/refugedanceacademy/
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