For more than 25 years, the Astoria Dance Centre has been providing students with a place they can go to receive an arts education of the highest quality.
The Astoria Dance Centre (ADC) was founded by Maureen A. Gelchion in 1983.
“I had been teaching for about eight years and I wanted to start a program in the Astoria community that had a very high caliber of cultural education,” said Gelchion, who is also the director of the center.
ADC started as a dance center, although Gelchion said that she wanted to offer more programs. After spending about eight years establishing the center, she said it began to offer more classes, including ones for music, acting, piano, and voice. Even now, Gelchion said that the center continues to add new programs, such as Yoga and belly dancing.
“It took a while to develop that,” she said. “[It] just kept evolving to become a performing arts center.”
In the future, Gelchion said she would also like to broaden the music program to possibly include guitar and other instruments.
The students at ADC are as young as two. Gelchion said there are also students as old as 60. Predominantly, the students are from the Queens area, although there is a handful from the other boroughs.
“The goal of Astoria Dance Centre is to provide students with an awareness of how to use the mind and body as an instrument through movement; allow them the opportunity to express themselves creatively; provide them with valuable knowledge of theatre and the arts; and to develop the ability and appreciation to work artistically with others,” the web site states.
Along with the various classes, ADC also has a performance team. Gelchion said that this is a group of handpicked dancers from the school who “show promising potential.” The group performs for the community and takes part in regional dance competitions, which she said gives the students a broader performance base.
Gelchion said that there are many things that set ADC apart from other centers.
“We have a very family-friendly staff and environment,” she said, noting that ADC has very good customer service. She also said, “It’s more about providing quality teachers in a good facility and making sure that the kids coming through our door are getting the best arts education.”
In addition, Gelchion said that ADC provides a progressive dance and culture education for students of all ages, has windows so parents can watch the classes, has full length mirrors in the dance rooms, wood spring floors and all programs are in one location, making it easier for parents.
Gelchion, who teaches about nine classes a week, along with doing administration work, said that the most rewarding part of her work is seeing the children gain more confidence. She said that she has seen them become more poised and take pride in their accomplishments.
ADC is currently registering students for the summer program, and will begin registration for the fall in June.
Also next month, the center will have its annual performance at Queens Theatre in the Park on Saturday, June 20 with performances at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The event will be open to the public, with tickets going on sale May 26.
On Sunday, June 21, the center will have a piano and dance recital.
The Astoria Dance Centre is located at 25-95 Steinway Street, second floor, in Astoria. For more information and a complete list of its classes, visit www.astoriadancecentre.com or call 718-278-1567.
