Nancy Royce Studio of Dance Raises the Barre

Squeezed in tightly between a karate dojo and a seamstress is the small and just-under-thirty-year-old Nancy Royce Studio of Dance.

A cheery young woman sits behind the desk in the brightly lit front office of the studio. She is proud to say she owns Nancy Royce - the wooden floors, the mirrored walls, the ballet barre and even the flyers reminding dancers of upcoming classes and competitions.

There's only one problem. Her name is not Nancy Royce.

Deanna Destito graduated from Montclair State University in 2001, where she studied theater and English and minored in dance. Although she has been dancing since she was three years old, she landed a job in an office and decided to take it.

The day-to-day of sitting still and shuffling papers in a gray atmosphere started eating away at her.

"I used to dread going to work when I was just an office drone," Destito said. "I was bored out of my mind."

Destito started teaching dance and piano in the evenings when it clicked.

"I said, "Ooo," if I can make this a full time job, I won't have to sit in this office any longer," Destito recalled with a laugh.

Destito left her office job and found work as a preschool teacher in a half day program and applied to teach dance at multiple studios, trying to make a full time job out of her lifelong love.

One day she sent an email to Nancy Royce, in search of a new studio to teach at. Royce, who still owned her studio at that point, hired Destito as a sub. She slowly worked her way into the studio, taking on more classes and working in the front office while Royce was on vacation.

After working there for about three years, Destito asked for more hours. But at her meeting with Royce, a much bigger offer came across the table - an offer to buy the studio.

The two women talked it over for a few months and Destito decided to pursue it. In September of 2010, Royce officially retired and Destito was the proud owner of her own studio.

"It's crazy," she said, widening her eyes. "I had been doing a lot of the desk work for her. I was kind of her unofficial office manager. Then there's the whole other side of business that you never see, tax documents and zoning and other nonsense. And it's not the fun part of owning a business."

Destito now has a year and half under her belt as the studio owner and she's starting to put her mark on it. She's making changes to the classes and instituted a core curriculum for techniques. She's also solving one other little problem with the studio, the lack of space.

By April, and possibly in March if the project stays on track, the Nancy Royce Studio of Dance will move across Route 34 to a larger two-room studio above Bliss. The name is being left behind during the move and the studio will be become Raising the Barre Dance Academy. 

"You can see it's small, it's old fashioned," she said, gesturing toward the old studio. "Even the name is old fashioned. Competition dance is big now, with multiple studios and a flashy name."

No matter where she is, her favorite part of the job remains the same: her students.

"They're like little sisters," Destito said.