The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Milan native using dance studio to bring arts to rural communities
For Sydney Shephard, the call to return to Milan was too strong and coincidental to pass up.
Having left Ohio to attend Columbia College Chicago, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2019, then living in Colorado a few months, Shephard, 23, said nothing seemed to click post-graduation.
That is, until she was offered an opportunity to purchase Momentum Dance Center, 11001 U.S. 250 N., Unit B1 in Milan.
“Nothing really felt right and that opportunity just fell in my lap,” Shephard said.
Now, she has been the owner and artistic director of the studio since August of this year, bringing what she learned working with major dance influencers to her hometown.
“I’m really passionate about bringing awareness of the arts to places that don’t necessarily have access to them, because I think it’s more important than bringing it to places it already is,” Shephard said.
Homegrown
Shephard said she started dancing at the age of 3, but wasn’t interested in competing until she was older.
“I never felt the need to go into competition dance at a young age, because I just loved to dance,” she said. As Shephard grew older, she said she soon realized there weren’t many opportunities in and around Erie County to train for dance if she wasn’t competing.
So, she joined her first competition dance team in eighth grade, which Shephard said is considered very late to start competing in the dance world.
Regardless, she knew the arts were her life’s passion.
“I quickly knew pretty much going into freshman year (of high school) that dance was what I wanted to focus on,” Shephard said.
She continued with dance in Milan until she graduated from Edison High School in 2015, and began a new chapter in her dance career in college.
“There we focused on modern dance and more concert dance performance,” Shephard said. “It was very different than what I was used to.”
It was in Chicago that she was able to work with artists such as Paige Cunningham, Darrell Jones, Carrie Hanson, Dardi McGinley-Gallivan and Jimmy Payne.
These experiences led Shephard to want to bring what she learned back home.
“I sort of knew that I wanted to take dance and what I learned in the city and bring arts into more rural areas,” she said.
Dancing in new directions
Shephard said her dance center has been intimate since she took over, with about 40 to 50 students enrolled in classes that started in mid September.
“The transition, it’s been great, because I have a small group of people that they all seem to be rooting for me and the studio’s success,” she said.
Shephard said her approach with her students is to cater to their skills and goals, whether they hope to nail certain choreography and skills or want to take their talents to center stage.
“Something that I really love to focus on is personal success rather than, how do I get this dancer to become a ballerina or professional dancer,” she said. “I like to focus on where the student is now and where they want to be tomorrow.”
Additionally, starting up classes during a pandemic has been a struggle in many ways for the studio.
“It’s harder to be in dance class, and it’s harder to be around people and not be afraid of what’s going to happen,” Shephard said.
Sanitization, face masks and social distancing have been a part of safety protocols for the studio, she said.
Since Shephard’s business has been able to open safely, she said it’s provided important socialization opportunities for her students.
“I understand the fear,” she said. “I have it as well. But I think it’s really important to have that socialization.”