WILLIAMSBURG — Broadway Dance Arts is a dance studio with a long history in Williamsburg, and new owner Jasmine Tubach is determined to assure it stays true to its community-based roots.
The studio was originally founded in 2000 by Shawn Blasingame. After a career as a professional dancer and choreographer, Blasingame decided to settle down and open a studio of her own in Williamsburg with the goal to create a studio that not only catered to the classical styles, but gave actors and singers a place to perfect their craft by offering more theatrical and Broadway-styled dance.
The studio went on to create a national championship competition team that has won numerous awards.
Tubach’s history with the studio began when she was around 12 years old. She studied under Blasingame and was a member of the competition team. She graduated from James Madison University in 2015 with a double major in Dance and Sociology, after which she began working as a teacher at the studio, as well as a dancer for RVA Dance Collective.
She left RVA Dance Collective in 2020, and in 2021 Blasingame approached her about purchasing the studio and taking over as the owner.
Shortly after taking over the studio, both the competition and recital teams came together for the 2021 Williamsburg Christmas Parade, winning Best Performing Group 2021.
“We actually won best performing group,” Tubach said. “It was like, ‘I just got this studio’ and a month later that was our first event. I’m very proud of that and thought it was exciting.”
Tubach’s life has had its fair share of heartache. She lost her husband in a car following a performance with RVA Dance Collective in 2020, It left her to raise her young son, born in 2019.
“We drove separately of course. So he drives home and then I drive home. He had an accident on the way home, a few miles from the house,” Tubach recounted. “I’m just thankful that I got to have an evening with him.”
With the support of her family, community, and her faith, however, Tubach was able to move forward, raise her son, and follow her calling in dance. When she agreed to purchase the dance studio, her son was just six-months-old, but thanks to the help of her mother, and Blasingame continuing as a teacher, she managed to keep the studio as successful as ever.
One of the programs the studio has launched is the KéKAY Alternative Preschool. The program is designed with the idea of encouraging active movement, body awareness, mindfulness, and even international awareness for children ages 2-5, on top of basics like letters, shapes, and numbers. The preschool is run by Tubach’s mother.
Another new program is geared toward children with disabilities, providing opportunities to move and experience dance to the utmost of their abilities. That program will start in October.
“The teacher that will teach that class is Ms. Kate, and we both have a passion for the special needs children,” Tubach said. “We want to offer the children to come and dance to see what they can do. Even on “Dancing with the Stars” they have people in wheelchairs doing duets, which is just amazing and beautiful. And I want to be able to offer things like that in Williamsburg.”
Currently, the studio is also hosting an athletic shoe drive to provide shoes to other countries. It is currently working on collecting a minimum 700 pairs of new or lightly worn athletic shoes. It has begun setting up donation boxes, and is working on setting up more around Williamsburg to make it easier for people to be able to donate.
Broadway Dance Arts has just begun its fall session and will be offering adult classes starting in late September and early October. For more information about the studio, classes, and programs, visit the studio’s website.
