Following in your parent’s footsteps might be difficult when your mother is a professional dance instructor with decades of experience in diverse styles.

But Leslea Clark proved that she could keep step with her mother, Pat. And out of this mother-daughter team’s dedication has come Uptown Dance in Belleville NJ.

What Leslea and Pat want their students to see when they walk into the Uptown Dance studio is “a home away from home.” Leslea fell in love with dance as a child, because she had that sort of connection and comfort in the studio where her mother taught. Now, Leslea and Pat want to share that experience with their students.

As a child, spending all her free time in the studio where her mother taught, Leslea counted her dance school as her home away from home. But in 1992, the studio closed. And, both Pat and Leslea lost their old stomping ground. They could have adopted a new studio. But instead, the dancers opened their own school, a studio with an open door to all dancers seeking a home.

A Training Retreat

Uptown Dance, now in its 17th year, extends a warm, home-like welcoming to both experienced and inexperienced dancers. Pat and Leslea work to

create a non-competitive, nurturing environment where dance is a creative, expressive, enjoyable, and healing activity.

But the snug environment shouldn’t fool you: Pat and Leslea focus intensely on technique and instruction. Pat has been dancing and teaching for over 30 years, and she holds IDEA and PDTA certifications. Leslea began teaching dance nearly two decades ago. She holds a degree in Dance Arts, and she is a certified AFAA fitness instructor. Leslea also dances professionally with G-Volution Dance Company.

It’s through this combination of philosophy and experience that Pat and Leslea attract happy students and find fulfillment.

“We are a small studio, which allows us to know every student by name, get to know their family, and provide individual attention to all,” Pat said. “We see our students as our extended family.”

Generational Advantage

As far as directing a dance studio with her mother, Leslea said that the “generation gap” creates more of a cooperative atmosphere than a competitive one.

“We have an awesome relationship. We very rarely argue… we are best friends. So, even though there is an occasional butting of heads, we talk it through and always work it out.”

Uptown to Come

One of Leslea’s personal aims for this year is to help her dancers organize their thoughts and identify their goals. A “Dance Diary” (which Leslea talks about in her latest blog post, “Start the Dance

Year Off Right”) is just one tool that Leslea’s students use to chart their own progress.

At Uptown Dance, students take classes in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, and hip-hop. And as Leslie continues to build her own dance career–traveling to teach dance, choreography, cheerleading, and fitness at various locations, and continuing her own dance training–Uptown Dance promises to grow and invite more students into the family.

To join Uptown Dance or get in touch with Pat and Leslea, visit their website. Right now, Pat and Leslea are renovating the site, and very soon you’ll find lots of news and gallery updates.