Dance Impressions Offers More Than Pirouettes and Jazz Hands

Janice Howard-Battaglia has been dancing since she was 3-years-old, and teaching since she was 16. But since taking over her own studio in 2005, Howard-Battaglia has not only been proud of her students' dancing skills, but also their ability to give back to the community.

"It's a family oriented place. Once you are with us, you are family," Howard-Battaglia said.

Dance Impressions opened in 2005 in Lincroft, after Howard-Battaglia took over the Lincroft Dance Center. She had been teaching for years, but at age 25 Howard-Battaglia couldn't turn down a chance to open her own company.

"I call it my quarter-life crisis," Howard-Battaglia said, adding that at the time she was recently married and had just had her first child.

In 2007, Dance Impressions moved to Route 34 in Colts Neck. The studio offers classes for ages 2 through 17, and Howard-Battaglia said she strives to maintain a family environment while stressing life lessons beyond dance.

"They are a reflection of the studio," she said. "We teach more than just dance. We teach respect, good sportsmanship."

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Dance Impressions has recreational classes as well as competition and performance teams. Traveling is limtied to New Jersey, and competition and performance teams are optional for families.

As an owner, Howard-Battaglia said the sense of community within the walls of her company has let her achieve everything she wants, including having a husband and three young children.

"These parents have always been supportive of my family," Howard-Battaglia said, recalling parents throwing a baby shower when she was pregnant with her son. "They never question me wanting to have the best of both worlds."

When her students aren't on stage, Howard-Battaglia said she likes to get them together to give back to the community. Last year, the school participated in the Beach Sweep at Sandy Hook.

Service efforts hit home when students began volunteering at marathons and performing at charity competitions in honor of a fellow student diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis.

"At the end of the day, you have to have something else," Howard-Battaglia said. "It's greater than you."

For more information about classes at Dance Impressions, visit the website.