Seymour swings to a new beat with Athletica Dance Studio opening

On January 16, that dream came true as Athletica Dance Studio opened its doors in Seymour.

“When I saw that these (the building) were being built ... we drove past one day, and I sort of looked at it, and I thought wow, it’d be an incredible place to sort of open my dream dance studio,” Ms Loriot said.

“You know, everyone sort of dreams about being able to open something that they’re so passionate about and they love so much.

“I was just positive that this was what I was going to do.”

Ms Loriot said taking the plunge and deciding to open her studio came with many tears and a great support system in the form of family and friends.

Now she is in the first term of dance lessons, offering classes in jazz, tap dance, musical theatre, acrobatics, ballet, hip-hop and more.

“I’ve got almost 100 kids enrolled, which is incredible,” she said.

“We’re only in our second week, so ... the response from the community is incredible.”

Ms Loriot started dancing at six and teaching dance at 13.

“It’s something that I’ve always been so passionate about,” she said.

“I just love working with kids and love teaching dancing.”

Ms Lorrit offers classes for kids aged from two and her oldest student is 18, but she hopes to expand the age range and classes as the term progresses.

“Next term, we will be starting sort of an adult-dense dancing class,” she said.

“Sort of like ... a jazz class, a lot of fun movement more than anything else.

“Just sort of a bit of a boogie in the studio, which would be really, really fun.”

Ms Loriot said opening the dance studio and teaching kids had been fulfilling.

“My favourite thing, I think, is sort of watching the kids’ confidence grow,” she said.

“They sort of come in, and they’re really shy, and you know they’re a bit timid and a bit scared.

“Then ... even now, one week or two later, they’re running into the studio and ready to dance.”

Ms Loriot said she sometimes couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that she was living her dream.

“There’s been a few moments, especially over the last week, where I sort of had to stand back,” she said.

“Some classes, I’ve got 20 kids, and I’m looking around thinking, ‘wow, all these kids want to come and dance with me’.

“I’m so lucky.”

Athletica Dance Studio also offers private lessons for dancers going into competitions or wanting to further their dancing.

“I’ve got a lot of girls who are working on some competition work at the moment,” Ms Loriot said.

“We’re working on solo routines ... we work on a routine or a number of routines for a lot of them.

“There’s so many competitions around in regional Victoria, you know they can go interstate ... there’s no sort of limit to where they can take them.”

Ms Loriot has big plans for her passionate dancers and her studio.

“(The goal) is to get as many beautiful kids in the door as possible enjoying dancing, working towards our end-of-year performance,” she said.

“More than anything else, just creating a space where kids and parents can come and they feel supported and cared for.

“They can build their confidence, they can develop their dancing technique, make new friends and just have fun.”