Dance and yoga dream evolves into local reality
For Leslie Connaghan, the opening of her new
dance and yoga studio, Act Two Studios, was
the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
"This has been my dream for my life,"
she said. "Teaching dance is what I've
wanted to do since high school... it's what
I love. I'm very fortunate. I'm the luckiest
person I know."
Inside her spacious new building on Bluegrass
Circle are two mirrored studios with black floors
already scuffed from use in less than two months
of use.
The beige walls are still noticeably bare,
but the bars are coming, she notes, and artwork
too.
One 7-year-old girl came to her during a class
recently and said, "Miss Leslie, you need
some pictures on the wall." The next week,
she brought one, chalk on black paper, already
framed, which remains the studio's sole art,
though Connaghan says there is art waiting to
be hung and more on the way.
Connaghan has taught dance in Cheyenne for
more than 30 years, she said, and she felt there
was a need for a spacious, state-of-the-art
dance studio.
Connaghan had looked for buildings to buy and
remodel, but couldn't find anything she liked,
so she bought a piece of land and hired an architect
and a builder.
Inside the building are two studios, one of
which can be divided in two by partition to
create three studio spaces. The floors are specially
constructed in layers to cushion the blows of
dancers' feet.
She and three other instructors teach ballet,
tap, jazz, lyrical dance and an early childhood
program to teach creative movement. Her classes
differ from many studios in that they run year-round
with only a few weeks' break in August.
A squad of six yoga instructors teaches six
different styles and cheerleading, acrobatics
and pilates also are offered, all of which are
natural fits for her studio, Connaghan said.
"Many, many dancers take yoga and pilates
as cross-training," she said. "They
just fit so well." It also fit well with
the schedule, since yoga can be offered during
the daytime when children are in school.
And until now, the only yoga classes in Cheyenne
were available through gyms, schools or community
centers, Connaghan said.
The studio's instructors include many who teach
or have taught elsewhere in Cheyenne, including
Diane Twine, who has taught yoga for 10 years
and is a friend of Connaghan.
"It's really nice just to have such a
big space," she said. "It's well lit,
and it just has a nice feel about it. It's not
like doing yoga in a gym."
On Friday, Pat Noel, 64, and Tess Rideout,
81, gathered for a yogalates class at the studio
and agreed with that sentiment.
"It's so quiet," Rideout said.
"So when it's time for relaxation, you
can actually relax," Noel said.
