By Kelly Nicholaides
Dance is the ultimate creative performing art—bursting with emotion, whimsy, and soul. The percentage of dance students at local studios who make the move into a dance career is slim. But many carry their passion from a hobby to a fitness lifestyle. Kearny dance studios host a variety of classes and students whose fancy footwork takes them from ballet to contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, salsa, tap, Zumba, and everything in between.
At KAM Dance Academy, owner and Secaucus resident Kristal Aguilar, 30, guides two ballet students on a summer evening. Dancing since she was 3, Aguilar studied flamenco in Spain, minored in Spanish and Dance in college, and turned her passion into teaching. She splits her time between her job as Assistant Director of Student Involvement Services at New Jersey City University and her studio.
Reflecting body positivity, Aguilar, a blonde, green-eyed, full-figured Cuban-American, is not a stereotypical dancer. “People think you need to be fit, skinny, and tall, but everyone can dance and has rhythm, regardless of size, shape, or ethnicity,” she insists. “There’s a stigma in dance that you have to be skinny, perfect, and white. I teach all young women to go out in the world with confidence, heads held high.”
KAM provides five scholarships a year in honor of Aguilar’s grandmother, Maria Caridad Soler, who nurtured her love of dance. “Grandma had my dance bag and dinner ready for me before chorus, concerts, and more. She was my number one cheerleader, passionate, loving, confident, and kind,” Aguilar reflects.
KAM dance classes focus is on personal growth. She often records students and goes over their work, and compares a dancer’s body to that of a tree, which requires a strong core to steady the branches’ movements. “Dance is a journey. We start somewhere and grow transformed,” Aguilar adds. “You learn the artistry of movement from tap to modern,” she says. “Our bodies can be used to create through movement what we want to express without fear or apology. Develop your style, poise, and smile. Dance from the heart for authenticity and vulnerability, and from the brain for the technical parts. You want a combination.”
During a class, she guides students, extending arms and straightening postures. “Eight counts to the bar…ankles facing in, heels out, and squeeze your tush and core. Adjust your arms, straight up, and don’t crunch,” she warns. Posture, posture, posture! If my core is not engaged, you move wildly, all over the place. Squeeze and lift for balance.”
Leila Ilboudo, 11, noted, “I’m dreaming one day I can become a dancer on Broadway.”
Megan Rivera, 14, loves dancing. “It’s for personal expression and makes me feel graceful.”
KAM Dance Academy
496-498 Kearny Ave.,
201-491-8840
www.kamdanceacademy.com
Ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, acrobatics
Dance as a transformative journey toward elegance and poise
Recreational, professional, competitive
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In a haze of flashing colorful lights, students taking Colombian salsa sway and mix rapid steps and turnarounds at Ritmo Latin Dance Studio. Classes include merengue, salsa, bachata, bailoterapia, and more. Founded by husband-and-wife Luis and Angie Carrasco last summer, Ritmo has three instructors who opened the studio last summer so their daughter Jocelyn, 10, can be closer to home in North Arlington instead of trekking further away for the dance classes she enjoys.
“It was an opportunity to bring Latin dance to Kearny. Americans love Latin music. For a lot of them who don’t like to go to the gym, they come here for Zumba and other classes,’ Angie says.
Luis’s family emigrated from Colombia in 1986, settling in Kearny and immersing themselves in Hudson County culture. “Colombians love music, and we love to dance, so it was a natural thing for us to open a dance studio,” Luis says. “Salsa has different rhythms put into it in other cultures. Colombian salsa has more movement, more steps, and a lot of energy.”
Instructor “Otto” is a sought-after Colombian salsa instructor of 21 years, who met Luis in the Elizabeth area, where he taught. He is the premier instructor of Colombian salsa, started off with street dancing, Luis notes. “It’s in my blood. I love to teach people not to be shy, and dancing is a natural way. Colombia is the heart of salsa,” Otto says, translated by Luis.
Children walk in and get ready for the next class. Samantha Espinoza, 9, had been coming here for two months. “I like learning new things and trying new performances,” she explains.
Giulia Calienes, 7, and Jocelyn Carrasco, 10, enjoy the salsa. “I love the fast movements with all the energy and a lot of stepping,” Carrasco adds.
Ritmo Latin Dance Studio
437 Kearny Ave.
201-273-3741
www.instagram.com/ritmolatinodances
Mix of hip hop, ballet, variety of fitness and Latin classes, more.
https://www.instagram.com/ritmolatinodances/?hl=en
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On an August weekend, Toni Olsen sits at the back of Visions dance studio and readies for students to come in and register for fall classes. Visions is a Kearny landmark, going on 30 years. It’s known for its affordability and family-friendly setting that attracts students from as far as nearly two hours away. Olsen, 72, has no dance background. “I have three sons and two left feet,” she jokes. “I’m not an exercise person. I don’t like to sweat.”
Olsen became interested in opening a dance school while she was working for Grace Methodist Church, where she met parishioner June McCain, a Radio City Music Hall Rockette who lived in Kearny and operated a dance studio here for decades. McCain died in 2024.
“Dance used to be bigger, with a lot of schools offering programs. Kearny is a soccer town, and the kids like to do other sports that take away from dance,” Olsen says. “Some go into cheerleading and gymnastics.”
Visions has withstood the ups and downs of dance popularity. Olsen has chaperoned trips to performances and cultural events. She took a hip hop dance team to Germany to represent the United States 20 years ago and has seen students who started as children and are now raising their own.
Visions has 12 dance instructors to teach beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes. For the curious, Olsen offers a week of free sampler classes in every style/genre.
Overseeing the business end of the dance studio, Toni is grateful to the Kearny community of former students, returning students, and their families. Kearny stepped up to help her when tragedy upended her life in 2017 in a house fire where she lost her husband, four dogs, and residence while she was at work.
A maternal influence on those around her, Olsen values compassion and patience. For a deaf dance student, she adjusted the speakers so the child could feel the beat of the music and move in step. A special needs student got extra help. “I’m easygoing but strict,” she says. “Dance should remove a lot of frustration from kids who have a lot on their plates nowadays, trying to keep up with everything. They come here to be free-spirited. Some are shy in the beginning, but they start to let out their emotions. I try to teach them to finish what they started and not quit midway.“
Visions Dance Studio
202 Midland Ave.
201-991-1718
www.facebook.com/visionsdancestudiokearny
www.instagram.com/visions_dance_studio/reels
Jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, ballet, gymnastics, baby classes, more
https://www.facebook.com/visionsdancestudiokearny
https://www.instagram.com/visions_dance_studio/reels
