According to Aftershock Dance Studio owner Randilynn Hoch-Wienczeck, the 10th year in business is a special year – but not just for her business. It’s also a special year for her older students, their parents, and the instructors who helped the young dancers learn their craft.
Hoch-Wienczeck has watched three- and four-year-old children start out learning how to move creatively. And she has seen those same children grow into mature dancers capable of performing hip-hop, ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theater.
And now, many of the first students to do a pas de beurre and plie in her Mt. Penn studio are entering adulthood, going off to college and into the workforce. Some students will even study dance in college.
The studio has had much to celebrate in the past 10 years. It has grown from 93 students in its first year in business, and now it has over 300 students. In addition, the studio has won many awards and titles including the Best Hip-Hop Studio Award from the 2015 DanceXplosion Regional Finals competition, which was held May 8-9 in Valley Forge.
Hoch-Wienczeck wanted to do something special with the dancers to help celebrate the studio’s 10-year milestone. So, she sent an audition video to the people at Royal Caribbean to see if her dancers had what it takes to perform for passengers aboard a luxurious cruise ship.
The people from Royal Caribbean liked the video and invited the dancers from Aftershock Dance Studio to perform a 30-minute show for cruise ship passengers on a ship en route to Bermuda August 9.
Upon hearing the news, Hoch-Wienczeck sent a letter to the families of her competition team, and 13 dancers and their families responded saying they could go along for the cruise.
In the weeks leading up to the cruise ship performance, the 13 dancers rehearsed twice each week in preparation for the trip. Hoch-Wienczeck said the dancers were “excited and nervous at the same time, which is cool because it keeps them on their toes.”
The performance took place on the second of the five-day-trip, which Hoch-Wienczeck said was nice because they could “get [the performance] out of the way early” so the dancers, who ranged in age from 8 to 17, could enjoy the vacation.
One student, Mikala Weikel, 15, who performed a ballet solo during the 30-minute show, had a little less to be nervous about than the other dancers. She had actually performed on a cruise ship before with Aftershock Dance Studio when she was just 8 years old.
To help calm all of the dancers’ nerves, Hoch-Wienczeck selected the cruise ship routines from the ones they had been performing throughout the year. She said the dancers would be more comfortable with the routines she selected since they had already performed them at competitions and recitals.
In addition to the cruise ship performance, Aftershock Dance Studio celebrated the 10-year anniversary with a “massive” recital and party at Oley Middle school.
“We had seven seniors who were with me 10 years ago. They did this big slide show and gave a speech about the studio in the past 10 years. It was really sad, but it was nice,” said Hoch-Wienczeck.
“[The seven seniors] represented the first generation, and now my son and daughter just started [to dance]. So, now they’re the next generation,” she added.
Aftershock Dance Studio’s fall classes begin August 31. For more information or to sign up for classes, call 610-779-3790 or visit <www.aftershockdancestudio.com>.
