When Denise Westbrook announced the closing of Come Dance Tonight, a studio on Main Street in Cortez, two of her most devoted students couldn’t bear to see it go.
Cassidy King and her brother Nolan King, who were born and raised in Cortez, are the new co-owners of the studio under the new name, Legacy Dance.
“So in January the old owner said that she had to retire because of some health issues,” Cassidy King said. “There was nobody around who wanted to take it over. So it was going to shut down, and a lot of the members were talking about maybe starting up a club or something. But my brother and I really wanted to keep it going.”
After looking into certification training in California, the siblings made a deal with Westbrook.
“So we talked to my dad, and he talked to the old owner, and she offered to sell us the business and train us to become certified instructors. So my brother moved back home, and we have been doing it since May,” Cassidy King said.
At the time of the purchase, Nolan King was working and dancing in Fort Worth, Texas. The siblings fell in love with dance after their first visit to their hometown studio.
“My brother and I started dance here about three years ago,” Cassidy King said. “So the first time we came in, we basically fell in love with it and just kept coming.”
Similar to the previous studio, Legacy plans to offer a variety of styles in partner dances.
“We do basically all of the partner dances. We do ballroom, country, nightclub and Latin,” Cassidy King said. “Some of the more popular dances are West Coast swing and Argentine tango.”
The siblings hope start off by offering introductory classes on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. For residents of Cortez, the first introductory course is free. “We want to really work on reaching out to the community. We are really wanting to get some youth classes started,” Cassidy King said. “One of our main goals is trying to get dance to become a big part of this community because it is really good for you to dance.”
Legacy Dance is holding its grand opening on at 6:30 p.m. Friday, for an entrance fee of $25.
The theme of the event is “Dancing in the Movies,” featuring iconic songs from films, Cassidy King said.
The event also will include showcase dances from trained dancers and opportunities for inexperienced dancers to come out and have a good time.
“We are going to have a lot of songs and work on incorporating line dances from movies,” Cassidy King said. “We are going to have some showcases, so that is just a special choreographed routine that someone will perform.”
The entrance fee includes food and an introductory dance course. The studio is at 20 W. Main St.
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