In the afternoons and evenings, most families are running around from place to place juggling children’s schoolwork, extracurricular activities and dinner.
With this in mind, Pamela and Michael Bjerknes, both professional dancers, set out to create a dance studio that caters to the fast-paced lifestyle of parents and their children.
“Our school was formatted from an empty warehouse to create a space that met the needs of families,” said Pamela, owner of the American Dance Institute in Rockville, which opened in 2000. The renovations, totaling $2 million, transformed the warehouse.
The school, which has grown to a roster of 350 to 400 children and 250 adults, offers a lobby with ample seating where parents can wait while working on their laptops using wireless Internet access. And younger siblings can keep occupied in a playroom that also has access to observation windows into the studios, so parents can watch their children rehearse. Older students can study in a library with computers while waiting for class or to be picked up. Aside from the design goals, the institute’s overall vision is to “revitalize the Washington dance scene,” Michael said.
“My business model is the Kennedy Center,” Pamela said. “The quality of what is presented and the professionalism was the idea of what I wanted the institute to represent.”
The institute, a nonprofit, still has room to grow, Michael said.
“We hope to increase student enrollment to around 600 to 700, which will allow us to become more self-sustaining from earned income,” he said.
Right now, the income is about 65 percent earned, and 24 percent comes from grants, government funding, and individual and foundation contributions. To cut down on costs, the studio employs people both to administrate and teach, and relies on volunteers as much as possible. Pamela and Michael both teach, and Pamela plans the curricula and does the scheduling. Michael, who has a master’s degree in international management, handles the financial side.
