When Sharon Mathews and Molly Buchmann graduated from college in the ’60s, they had one goal in mind.
The Baton Rouge natives were constantly traveling and studying with ballet companies across the country by the time they were 25. Mathews and Buchmann could’ve been on their way to becoming the next big things in the dance world.
But their goal wasn’t about them. It was to open a studio in Baton Rouge for all ages that would prepare the next generation for professional careers in dance.
In 1973, the two converted Mathews’ garage into the Dancers’ Workshop. Forty-five years (and five locations) later, the Dancers’ Workshop is now housed in a studio off Bluebonnet Boulevard, has served as the training grounds for more than 40 professional dancers and is the official school of Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre.
The two say they cherished growing up in Baton Rouge and realized they wanted to create a studio focused on proper technique to provide a foundation for dancers who wanted to pursue the art form as a career.
“Dance is a wonderful activity for many reasons,” Buchmann says. “You don’t have to want to have a professional career in it to study ballet. That said, we feel like you should want to learn to do it correctly, and wanted there to be a place for the next generation of dancers to study if they did want to pursue a career.”
At a weekend practice filled with current students, the benefits of their time at Dancers’ Workshop were evident. There were students like Emelia Perkins, who at 19 has spent the last three years training full-time in Houston and Kansas City, Missouri. She spoke like a longtime professional, explaining the drive and determination it takes to pursue dance professionally.
There were also students like 17-year-old Mary Grace Beck, who is heading into her senior year at Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. She regularly balances the long hours of dance practice and varsity swim team competitions with her schoolwork and social life. She plans to go to college to pursue a career in medicine.
Dancers’ Workshop’s success can be attributed to the atmosphere of the studio, which Buchmann and Mathews say is different from the typical structure of a dance studio. One of their biggest modifications was doing away with annual recitals, where dancers prepare for months to perform one big show complete with intricate costumes, polished routines and a lot of stress for parents and dancers alike.
“You spend all year working on the dances for recital, and at the end of the year you only know what are in those dances,” Buchmann says. “Our goal is to spend our time teaching technique. Part of technique is not just training your body but training your brain to do something different every week. …. We find that this is how professional dancers are trained.”
The students still get opportunities to perform—many times on a professional scale. In addition to multiple public performances dancers can audition for throughout the year, Baton Rouge Ballet performers regularly visit the studio, teach and take classes. For large productions put on by Baton Rouge Ballet like The Nutcracker, practices are held at the Dancers’ Workshop.
“Seeing the work ethic of the professionals when they come in, I think, is really beneficial,” Mathews says. “Just seeing the warm-up techniques and how seriously the professionals take them is something, and then to see them rehearsing? Even more so. It is really unique for our students to have that opportunity to see how a real production works.”
That being said, as Matthews and Buchman explain, the benefits of being in an environment filled with professional dancers go beyond the dance world altogether. Students learn confidence, determination and self-discipline, helping them in whatever they do.
While the lessons learned at Dancers’ Workshop might be taught in a dance studio, Buchmann and Mathews says their use and applicability has no boundaries. dancersworkshopbr.com
This article was originally published in the October 2018 issue of 225 Magazine.
