Perhaps the fact that Cindy Flanagan spontaneously broke out into a tap dance three or four times during a guided tour of the Concord Dance Academy should have been a clue – the woman has a hard time remaining idle.
It was Flanagan who created the academy, beginning downtown in 1981. It was Flanagan who purchased the mill property that now houses the business and renovated the entire thing. It was also Flanagan who was instrumental in the creation of the Capitol Center for the Arts in 1989, has become a valued member of numerous city boards and who has raised a family of seven boys.
And it's Flanagan who has turned the Concord Dance Academy into one of the most prestigious schools of its type in New England.
“Your son or daughter may or may not have all the natural talent, but if they stay here long enough, they'll learn to dance and have all the fundamentals of the language of dance,” Flanagan said. “It's all about making you the whole person. We work on the inside of you the first five years, make you feel special and good about yourself, and the next five years we perfect the outside.”
That journey is hardly exaggerated. The school has students from as young as 2 ½ years old to 73, and many join as youngsters and stay through high school and beyond. The academy teaches the tenets of tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, Zumba, poynte and even karate, with most students studying all styles because, as Flanagan says, “you don't go to high school and just take math – you take all the subjects.”
The academy has produced countless awards over the years, many of which are on display throughout the facility, but the ones Flanagan is most proud of come in the categories of age-appropriate costumes and choreography. In an era where young dancers are wearing more revealing clothing, Flanagan prefers to keep the focus on appropriate attire and focus on the routine.
Flanagan is the daughter of a music teacher who “forced” her into dancing at age 3. But she went to Penn State intending to emerge with a degree in teaching, because “in the '60s nice girls were either nurses or teachers. When I moved up here, I thought, New Hampshire needs a great dance studio.
“One summer I woke up and said, I'm tired of working for other people. I think I'm going to open my own dance school, and it's just going to be small.”
It may have started that way – Flanagan had about 50 students when she started – but the school can now boast a staff of 14 instructors and 500 students from 43 towns per week.
Flanagan quickly outgrew the downtown location and moved to the former Page Belting building in 1993, renovating the interior to suit her needs. The building now features more than a half-dozen rooms in which to dance and includes a homework room and a kitchen for students to eat meals.
“This is their little home away from home,” Flanagan said. “A lot of them come here for three or four hours, two or three nights a week.”
For good reason. Parents and students involved with the school gushed about the positive changes that have resulted.
“My favorite part is just meeting friends and just dancing and having fun,” Jagger Reep, a 12-year old student said. “It just brings a smile to my face. This is my thing.”
Denise Welcome of Canterbury has had two daughters attend the academy. She attended an open house a few years back and “the rest is history,” she said.
“It's confidence, flexibility, stamina,” Welcome said. “They just gain a lot of confidence in themselves.”
Flanagan prefers to keep the focus on the positive. She begins each class with her youngest students – students she affectionately refers to as her babies – by having them say, in unison, “I am beautiful and great.”
Parents, often shut out from viewing in other dance schools, are encouraged to sit in on lessons and classes, especially if it puts the students more at ease. The academy competes in various events throughout the year but also remains dedicated to learning for learning's sake, staying open during the summer for those who are interested in year-round participation.
Flanagan doesn't see her own participation waning anytime soon, either.
“They gain confidence. They get so much self-confidence to present themselves in any situation,” Flanagan said of her students. “I was 30 when I opened my own school, and I don't know when I'm going to retire. I still like it.”
For more information about the Concord Dance Academy, visit concorddanceacademy.com.
