Business Spotlight: Triple 7 Dance Company

Triple 7 Dance Studio recently moved into the spot formerly occupied by New London Theatre, on East Main Street. After a full remodel, which included refinishing the floors, painting the walls, remodeling the bathrooms and taking down a staircase, they now have 180 kids enrolled in the program.

The school was previously located in the Kroger Plaza on the Centerville side of Highway 124.

Snellville Patch spoke with founder and artistic director Tamara Whitehead, who was full of excitement about the new location and plans for the future.

Snellville Patch: What do you like best about your new facility?

Whitehead: What’s great about the new place is that we will now be able to practice on stage, instead of asking the kids to use their imagination and pretend they’re on a stage. Now they’ll really have a feel for it.

Snellville Patch: Tell me about your dance troupe. I hear you’ve had some incredible performance opportunities.

Whitehead: Yes, we do a lot of competitions. We’ve been performing at Disney World every year for four years on the Magic Kingdom stage. We’ve performed at SeaWorld, and have been asked to perform on a Disney cruise next year. We did a Carnival cruise in 2010. We actually have just come back from placing first in ten competitions in South Carolina.

Snellville Patch: Tell me about when you first got started.

Whitehead: We started off as a company of just seven girls in 2002. Those girls have gone on to dance for the Hawks, Falcons, and some are now teachers. The proof is in the pudding. It’s been a good journey in itself.

Snellville Patch: What’s your personal background like? Have you always been a dancer?

Whitehead: My mom enrolled me in dancing when I was young. I toured with Jam on the Groove, which was an off Broadway musical, and toured Asia and Europe for a year in the mid 90s. I was a backup dancer for “Puffy,’ Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Lee Carr, 702, SWV, Gina Thompson and different artists. When I got married, I started teaching, and still do a lot of choreography.

Snellville Patch: What sets your dance studio apart from others?

Whitehead: We are more of a program-based dance school. I don’t charge per class, I charge per program. My mom was a single mom, so I know that paying for dance lessons can be really expensive. I make it affordable. We don’t have high turnover, so it’s working for us!

Snellville Patch: You have quite a few events scheduled. Can you tell me more about that?

Whitehead: We have a masquerade ball and haunted house scheduled for Oct. 27, which costs just $5. We’ll also have our annual winter musical called “Rhapsody” on Dec. 1 and 2.

Triple 7 Dance Company specializes in Lyrical, Jazz, Ballet, Modern and Hip Hop Dance. For more information, visit their website.