New School of Dance Opens in Katonah

After a stormy year for some area dance students and their families, a silver lining comes in the form of a new dance studio that has opened in Katonah.

 has opened its doors to dancers ages 3-18, offering an array of classes. 

The school was established following the —leaving many dancers without a studio to call home.

Founders Kathi-Jo Hubner and Lynda Griffin, said they hope their dance school becomes a place where students can plant their feet and further their dance educations.

“Something good came out of a horrible episode and we love that fact that these kids now have a place to call home,” said Hubner.

The Broadway veteran, who has been a dance instructor for forty years, teamed up with Griffin—a teacher and owner of a nursery school in Shrub Oak—to open the newly-renovated and airy space that is located directly behind Wells Fargo Bank on Katonah Avenue.

Griffin said her own two children grew up dancing seven days a week, and describes Hubner as her best friend. “With my experience running a school and Kathi’s amazing skills as a dance teacher and choreographer, we knew we could make this dream come true,” she said.  

Hubner lives in Pennsylvania and teaches dance in three different states each week, but made the time with her friend and business partner to create the new studio, with 32 students already enrolled—many of whom were previously her students at Encore Dance Arts in Mount Kisco.

After leasing the space in February from a very cooperative landlord, the owners explained, they spent evenings renovating and refurbishing the space themselves, adding new floors, new mirrors, ballet bars, upholstered benches and fresh paint.

“Friends, parents, colleagues—even carpenters, plumbers and electricians—just about everyone we knew stepped up to the plate to help,” Griffin said.

Phyllis Sattler of Bedford Hills, a mother of a 13-year-old daughter who has been dancing with Hubner for many years, said she is very grateful to the two women for starting a school after many students were left without a place to dance.

“Kathi and Lynda are remarkably loyal women,” Sattler said. “They understood exactly what we needed—those of us who couldn’t just go somewhere else—and created a special place not only for the kids, but also for us moms of dancers who have really bonded and rely on each other.”

Another local mother said that she and her 13-year old daughter were also thrilled about the opening of the dance school that offers classes in classical ballet, pointe, modern, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip-hop and runs a community-service oriented troupe called "Rhapsody."

“We were so touched that Kathi and Lynda rescued us and created a new home,” said Stephanie Small. “They really have the children’s interests at heart and after the chaos, they have put everything back together for us.”

The other teachers at the school include dancer Prince Riley Hairston, who has worked with Madonna and Rihanna, and classically-trained ballet coach Luba Gulyaeva from the Vaganova Ballet Academy and who was invited in 1989 by Mikhail Baryshnikov to become a member of the Faculty at the American Ballet Theatre School of Classical Ballet.

Another accomplished instructor is Joi Favor, who has danced with the likes of the Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem and Alvin Ailey.

Griffin and Hubner pointed to the message on the entrance wall that is written next to the word “SOD,” (School of Dance—the school’s acronym and nickname) when they expressed their hope that the school becomes a place that kids can nurture their love of dance with solid professional instruction.

It reads: SOD: //noun. A nutrient rich soil where seeds grow held together by deep roots.”

Click here for more information on classes and summer camps at the Northern Westchester School of Dance located at 260 Katonah Avenue in Katonah.

for a Patch feature on other dance programs in the area.