Maple Shade studio owner says dance saw her through dark times

MAPLE SHADE — Dana Randolph got pregnant at 19 and divorced at 21.

She loved her daughter, but the pressures of raising a kid alone and trying to figure out her life often were too much, she said.

Randolph, now 30, dealt with depression throughout her 20s.

One thing always brought her back to center: dancing. She would teach dance classes after work and dance on her own in her living room. She wanted to quit dancing several times but could never bring herself to actually do it, she said.

Now, Randolph is teaching younger girls to dance, too. 

The Maple Shade resident is owner of Amped to Dance, a studio at 4 N. Fork Landing Road. Specialized classes in ballet, jazz, hip-hop and other types of dance are available to kids ages 2 to 17, as well as additional classes for those 18 and older. 

In January 2020, Randolph, then a program coordinator for the Police Athletic League, walked by the then-vacant space while on an ice cream date with her daughter. Randolph stopped in her tracks and couldn't stop peering into the space, encouraging her daughter to do the same. 

She called her husband later that day. 

"We're opening a dance studio," said the longtime teacher. 

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Randolph signed the lease, hired six part-time instructors and built a class list of 13 kids. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing the studio to close before it even opened. Randolph also lost her day job as a program coordinator for the Police Athletic League.

But she was determined to keep the lights on, making payments with personal savings, money from her husband and a $5,000 grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. 

Amped to Dance finally opened in July, after New Jersey lifted its stay-at-home order, with a nine-week summer camp, drawing at least eight kids per week.

Parents said they were encouraged by Randolph's commitment to keeping the program safe, with a mask mandate, social distancing and hourly cleanings. 

Over the summer, fall and winter, Randolph built her client base up to about 60 kids and 20 classes. The owner is working at Amped to Dance full-time, and while she's not making a profit yet, she is close, she said. 

"I’m excited for when this really happens and I can get paid for doing what I love," Randolph added. 

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Rebecca Masserini-Cooper, a township resident, sends her 13-year-old daughter, Alexa, to Amped to Dance. Alexa started in September because she was sick of sitting at home during the pandemic, said her mother.

Now she takes four classes a week and spends her Saturday teaching younger dancers. Even before the pandemic, Alexa would have been shy about embracing the teaching role, according to Masserini-Cooper. 

"You can see the confidence," said the mother.

Township resident Aminha Howell sends her 6-year-old daughter, Arielle, to the studio as well. Before starting with the summer camp, Arielle was down, according to her mother. She missed seeing her friends at school and other activities.

"She was asking why schools were closed," Howell said. 

Now, Arielle does back-to-back classes each Thursday night, modern and then hip-hop. When she arrives home, she wants to show Howell all her moves. At extended family gatherings, she dances for the crowd.

"She's back to herself," said Howell. "The bright light."

Randolph needs about 30 more clients to make a profit, and she's confident she can make that happen, she said. 

She is getting emails and seeing Google reviews (her studio has a 4.9 rating out of five) about how kids feel transformed after going to Amped to Dance. 

In addition to Arielle, Howell has another daughter and a niece who attend regular classes at the studio. 

"I always tell Dana, 'You'll watch them grow up,'" the mother said.

If You Go: 4 North Fork Landing Road, Maple Shade, 856-452-1028; ampedtodance.com 

A local news and sports reporter around Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2015, Jarrad Daniel Saffren joined The Burlington County Times’ award-winning local news team in October 2019, adding business, education and town government features to the coverage. Contact him at jsaffren@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JarradSaff. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to The Burlington County Times.