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ENLARGE
A time to dance: Laura Ruiz, the school’s founder and one of five instructors, teaches a jazz class to, background from front, Rachel Denny, Elizabeth Denny and Tyler Minnis at the school’s new location in Roseburg recently.
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ENLARGE
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Prayer: Rebekah Maccarone, 5, left, Claire Brinkman, 5, middle, and Sarah Blum, 6, pray before their introduction to ballet class at Celebration Street Christian School of the Performing Arts in Roseburg. Some form of Bible study and prayer happens at the beginning of
each class.
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ENLARGE
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With the dancers of Celebration Street closing the doors to their old site in Green this year, they've opened the more appealing doors of a new home in Roseburg.
The newly remodeled downtown studio of Celebration Street Christian School of the Performing Arts features French doors, to be exact. The glass double doors open to reveal a shining new wood floor and crystal-clear mirrors.
"They put the French doors in especially for us," said a delighted Laura Ruiz, the school's founder and one of five instructors. "The kids just love them."
Celebration Street is a nonprofit dance school that Ruiz established in 1998. Dancers in the school, Ruiz says, "worship the Lord with their abilities."
Students from toddler age into adulthood take lessons in jazz, ballet, tap, lyrical, hip-hop and drama, performing around the county and the West Coast.
The studio, at 831 S.E. Cass Ave. next to Downtown Fitness, provides a more professional atmosphere, Ruiz said. Its centralized location in the county has proved popular with parents who didn't always want to drive out to the former site on Austin Road.
The new location has helped Ruiz meet her original goal of teaching 100 students, with some 35 dancers signing up for lessons since the January move.
"It's just really nice to be able to centralize ourselves," said Sasha Martinez, the school's administrator. "... We've had nothing but positive feedback."
Eventually, those at the studio hope to own their own building where several classes can be taught at once, Ruiz said. But for now, she said students feel special to have such a beautiful studio to practice their crafts.
"It took their breath away," added student Tyler Minnis, Ruiz's 12-year-old daughter.
Pam Bowman, whose 8-year-old daughter, Haylee, takes classes twice a week at the school, agrees the site is an improvement. She doesn't even mind the extra amount of driving from her home in Tiller.
"Oh my gosh," Bowman said. "It's pretty, it's professional, it's cheerful."
Byron Frazer, who owns the building with his wife, Linda, said Celebration Street's new home was previously a dance studio that needed a few improvements.
"It just needed some love," said Frazer, co-owner of Garden Valley Realty, which is also located in the building.
The newly remodeled downtown studio of Celebration Street Christian School of the Performing Arts features French doors, to be exact. The glass double doors open to reveal a shining new wood floor and crystal-clear mirrors.
"They put the French doors in especially for us," said a delighted Laura Ruiz, the school's founder and one of five instructors. "The kids just love them."
Celebration Street is a nonprofit dance school that Ruiz established in 1998. Dancers in the school, Ruiz says, "worship the Lord with their abilities."
Students from toddler age into adulthood take lessons in jazz, ballet, tap, lyrical, hip-hop and drama, performing around the county and the West Coast.
The studio, at 831 S.E. Cass Ave. next to Downtown Fitness, provides a more professional atmosphere, Ruiz said. Its centralized location in the county has proved popular with parents who didn't always want to drive out to the former site on Austin Road.
The new location has helped Ruiz meet her original goal of teaching 100 students, with some 35 dancers signing up for lessons since the January move.
"It's just really nice to be able to centralize ourselves," said Sasha Martinez, the school's administrator. "... We've had nothing but positive feedback."
Eventually, those at the studio hope to own their own building where several classes can be taught at once, Ruiz said. But for now, she said students feel special to have such a beautiful studio to practice their crafts.
"It took their breath away," added student Tyler Minnis, Ruiz's 12-year-old daughter.
Pam Bowman, whose 8-year-old daughter, Haylee, takes classes twice a week at the school, agrees the site is an improvement. She doesn't even mind the extra amount of driving from her home in Tiller.
"Oh my gosh," Bowman said. "It's pretty, it's professional, it's cheerful."
Byron Frazer, who owns the building with his wife, Linda, said Celebration Street's new home was previously a dance studio that needed a few improvements.
"It just needed some love," said Frazer, co-owner of Garden Valley Realty, which is also located in the building.
It took about a month to spruce up the second-floor studio in the building, which recently turned 100 years old. More work has gone into the building as a whole since the Frazers bought it about two years ago, including a new roof and a blue-and-white facade.
"It's kind of a landmark here," Byron Frazer said. "We tried to take it back to sort of what it might look like when it was first built."
And he considers Celebration Street a perfect fit, for his building and for the downtown area.
"I think it's a fantastic addition," he said. "... They're just a wonderful bunch of people."
While everyone seems to love the studio's new home, it was difficult to leave the old one behind. In spite of the warehouse's leaky roof, two giant garage doors and lack of plastered walls, the students had danced there for several years.
"Our families were disappointed to leave," Martinez said. "It was home."
They also miss their old landlord, who allowed the group to paint the place purple, pink and gold, Martinez said, laughing.
Ruiz hopes to reach out to the community more than ever now that Celebration Street is located on Cass Avenue.
"It's kind of a landmark here," Byron Frazer said. "We tried to take it back to sort of what it might look like when it was first built."
And he considers Celebration Street a perfect fit, for his building and for the downtown area.
"I think it's a fantastic addition," he said. "... They're just a wonderful bunch of people."
While everyone seems to love the studio's new home, it was difficult to leave the old one behind. In spite of the warehouse's leaky roof, two giant garage doors and lack of plastered walls, the students had danced there for several years.
"Our families were disappointed to leave," Martinez said. "It was home."
They also miss their old landlord, who allowed the group to paint the place purple, pink and gold, Martinez said, laughing.
Ruiz hopes to reach out to the community more than ever now that Celebration Street is located on Cass Avenue.
The school's philosophy is that everyone is welcome, regardless of faith or lack of it. With scholarships available, the school also opens its doors to those who might not otherwise have the means to take a class.
"We want to be a light in downtown Roseburg," Ruiz said.
<b>Street glance
Check out the Celebration Street Christian School of the Performing Arts dancers at the following upcoming events:
<b>Bananas for Jesus Variety Show:</b> 6 p.m. Saturday, Umpqua Community College Jacoby Auditorium. Tickets at Living Hope Books Plus, KGRV or at the door. Cost $5 per person.
<b>YMCA Healthy Kids Day:</b> 9 a.m. to noon, April 8, Roseburg YMCA. Free event.
<b>Celebration Street:</b> 831 S.E. Cass Ave.; 679-0752; www.celebrationstreet.com
* You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@newsreview.info.
"We want to be a light in downtown Roseburg," Ruiz said.
<b>Street glance
Check out the Celebration Street Christian School of the Performing Arts dancers at the following upcoming events:
<b>Bananas for Jesus Variety Show:</b> 6 p.m. Saturday, Umpqua Community College Jacoby Auditorium. Tickets at Living Hope Books Plus, KGRV or at the door. Cost $5 per person.
<b>YMCA Healthy Kids Day:</b> 9 a.m. to noon, April 8, Roseburg YMCA. Free event.
<b>Celebration Street:</b> 831 S.E. Cass Ave.; 679-0752; www.celebrationstreet.com
* You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@newsreview.info.
