Step 1 Dance 2 Academy (S1D2) Owner and Artistic Director Jessica Gallew, along with Instructor Sarah Keller, accompanied 4 star students to The Pulse on Tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey in January. The Pulse promised a dance experience of a lifetime, and it delivered. Students took classes with some of the nation’s top choreographers, dancing 4-5 hours each day. It was an intense weekend of dance, and everyone brought home incredible experiences and loads of inspiration (as well as a few souvenirs).
S1D2 offers monthly workshops that are open to students and the community, with the goal to share a wide range of dance knowledge and bring the professional dance world into the studio.
Recent workshops were taught by Sarah-Katrina Jerome, a member of Static Noyze, a contender on America’s Best Dance Crew Season 5, Peter Sabasino, a top 16 contestant on So You Think You Can Dance Season 6, and Magic Mike, a Maryland native and member of Boogie Bots, on America’s Best Dance Crew Season 2.
The PULSE on Tour is a dynamic and unique weekend dance event, featuring the top choreographers and instructors within the dance industry. The faculty appears on reality television shows (such as So You Think You Can Dance), directing the hottest music videos and tours for leading recording artists, as well as producing and choreographing for movies, commercials, and Broadway productions.
S1D2 Academy is a noncompetitive, friendly, and fun dance studio whose goals are to help each student build confidence, self-esteem, strength, flexibility, and an appreciation for the art of dance and movement. Mrs. Gallew said, “Our dance program is exciting and challenging—grounded in all styles of technique, along with a proper knowledge base—and taught by professionally trained, college-educated dance instructors. S1D2 is a place of encouragement where students will learn and grow in movement, performance, and self-assurance.”
Step 1 Dance 2 Academy
• Offers Hip Hop, Ballet, Zumba, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Creative Movement, and “Mommy & Me” classes to students of all ages
• Provides a welcoming dance “home” for children and adults where they can branch out and learn how to express themselves through movement
• Believes that dance is not only a pure art form, but it also offers a valuable education
• Strives to instill the “love” of dance within our students and our environment
• Spreads our love of dance into the community through inspiring performance programs
Mrs. Gallew said, “Classes are designed to help students develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally through a solid foundation of creativity, proper technique, and developmentally appropriate movements. S1D2 instructors are performers and teachers here in our own local dance community, aspiring to develop high-quality classes for our students and ourselves, and instilling discipline, professionalism, and positive attitudes.”
A 2005 graduate of Point Park University located in Pittsburgh, PA, Mrs. Gallew holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz and Modern Dance Concentration. In addition, she practices Hatha yoga and, in 2008, became certified from Yoga Alliance in Vinyāsa flow and Ayurveda. She completed her training at Yogasphere™ in Newtown, PA.
Mrs. Gallew has taught dance in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and now Maryland. While in Kansas, she owned and directed her own dance and yoga studio for three years, while also teaching master classes at various studios in the area. Known for her innovative, fun, and unique style, she has choreographed for the Sierra Vista Beauty Pageant in Arizona, The Philadelphia Youth Performing Arts Camp in Pennsylvania, Tomorrow’s Choreographers at Point Park University, The Pennsylvania Youth Theater in Bethlehem, PA, DARE Dance in Annapolis, and recently Sudbrook Arts Centre in Baltimore, just to name a few.
She performed professionally at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, numerous casinos in Atlantic City, and The Pittsburgh Steelers Fashion Show, and trained with PHILADANCO and the Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia.
S1D2 Academy on the Eastern Shore is located at 1810 Main Street, Suite 105, in Chester. For more information, visit http://www.step1dance2.com.