SYRACUSE – Lee Anne Stewart celebrated 40 years of dance with a customer appreciation party at the Syracuse dance school. Students, parents and friends of the Nappanee and Syracuse dance schools enjoyed games, prizes and food at the event. June marks the close of Stewart’s 40th year of teaching dance in the greater Wawasee area. A second studio was opened in Nappanee in fall 1996. Both studios host students from many surrounding communities including Goshen, Leesburg, Warsaw, Bremen and Bourbon among many others. Lee Anne held her first dance classes in her garage and later in the basement of her home. As the classes grew, she expanded the school to a Nappanee location and a new building on the west side of Dewart Lake, which has larger dance rooms and a dance shop for the convenience of the dancers. This summer Lee Anne is expanding the school again as she offers classes at the Winona Lake Community Center and will open a studio in the Warsaw area in the fall. Through the years, the class options and staff size have also grown. Classes are available for beginning through advanced dancers with many specialty classes offered as well. Stewart’s dance instructors are highly trained through a variety of professional organizations and experts in the field of dance. Each teacher brings a wealth of information and knowledge to the dance school, which is shared with the other teachers. Lee Anne Stewart Dance School is known for presenting annual productions. Lee Anne and her staff frequently provide free classes in many public and private schools and perform at local events. Scholarships toward partial tuition expenses are also offered to students, and donations have been presented to local food banks and charities. “I truly think of every dancer, their families, and my staff as part of my dance family,” said Stewart. She believes dance is a life-long activity that helps individuals maintain personal fitness, relieve stress and express individuality.
