Salsa VS the 16-Wheelers
Pennsauken, NJ - Because we drive practically everywhere nowadays, we don't always realize what secrets lie in our own neighborhood. We simply rush past, unaware. For example, to get from my house to Philadelphia's Center City, about six or seven miles away, I must navigate, for a few blocks, the busy Route 130 Corridor.
I must have passed a large sign reading "Atrium" at least a thousand times. (Really!) Since driving directly in the roar of sixteen-wheelers, tractor-trailers, dump trucks and such takes mega concentration, I didn't really focus on the "Atrium" sign any more than on "Auto Shop," "Plumbing Supplies" or "Checks Cashed" signs. At the most, it occurred to me that "Atrium" sounded prettier than the others.
What ultimately caught my eye was a local school flyer advertising Belly Dance Classes at the Atrium Dance Studio. Dance Studio! How could I have missed it so many times?
Thus I signed up for Belly Dance Classes. Surprise. The art with its smooth, undulating moves is much more difficult than it looks. I didn't know hips could actually ache.
Another surprise, much bigger. The Atrium Dance Studio of which only a glass-enclosed, greenery-filled alcove is visible from Route 130, is huge. Huge studios accommodating huge classes all under the direction and guidance of one petite dance teacher and performer, Barbara Capaldi.
Says she, "I bought the building in 2001. It was a sun-room showroom. The atrium was built in front to advertise sun-rooms. Right now I'm waiting for the OK to get our permit to expand the studio another
twenty-five feet. What I'm hoping to do is have more classes with more teachers coming in with different specialties.... especially partner dancing which is what people are looking for."
The existing studios are already large. But admittedly, as I observed during my brief but exotic foray there, they are really packed with dance enthusiasts during classes. "In Ballroom, we are always short of women," confesses Capaldi. "We have a surplus of men."
Regarding her schedule, she continues: "I do actually teach the Ballroom and Salsa classes. The Salsa program is especially popular. And I teach Latin Body Movement because it has to do with all the Latin rhythms....we do isolation exercises that help you to style while dancing.
"We put together patterns. We divide the second half of a class into men's and ladies' stylings. After working separately, we'll have a face-off where the girls and the guys will show what they have done. It's really a lot of fun even though we try to make it physically challenging."
Among the many dance programs offered at the Atrium are Waltz and Bolero instruction; the aforementioned Belly Dancing with Valerie Rushmere; Argentine Tango with Jackie Stahl; Hip Hop with German Ramaris and Marcus Tucker; Ballroom Basics with Nancy Sklencar; West Coast Swing with Rob and Sheila Purkey. Explaining the latter style, Capaldi commences: "West Coast is a slower, more bluesy version of Swing. There are at least eleven versions. It is actually the Jitterbug [which comes] from the Lindy Hop and that is probably the closest to Latin."
Besides classes, parties with full course dinners are given each month: "Swing Party with Rob and Sheila"; "Hustle Party with Brian Gallagher;" "Latin Party"; four "Ballroom Mix Parties" which include everything from Hustle to Viennese Waltz. Also very important, special "Fund-Raiser Parties" which are held to purchase equipment - e.g., a computer to be raffled off "....or to assist [our] performance-level Salsa group called 'Phlave' with costumes and travel expenses. It depends."
Capaldi admits that her family did not necessarily encourage her love of dance which was evident by the time she was six years old. "I think they just thought of it as something I would grow out of. There were five children [all girls] so there was not enough budget for dance or music classes. I came from a very working-class family. I couldn't go to dance classes until I was able to afford them myself. I started when I was about fifteen or sixteen. I did Jazz and Ballet on and off plus Tap.
"I was always ambitious as a kid....anything to raise money for classes. I had a paper route. I worked part-time for different vendors in the Pennsauken Mart." The Mart is a long, low building on the outskirts of town. It houses a flea market-like mixture of separate retail shops and stalls selling everything from produce to motorcycle paraphernalia but unlike at flea markets, all the merchandise is new.
After graduating with an Associate Degree in Applied Arts from Camden County College in New Jersey, Capaldi's next three years were spent in a Philadelphia-based research publishing company where she did paste-ups, layouts and marketing. She was actually aiming for Law School but got side-tracked selling real estate which may have convinced her to go back to college. She finished with a teaching certificate for Grades K through Eight.
Recalls the Atrium Dance Studio owner, "In 1987 I started to teach dancing at Arthur Murray. From there I began to move from place to place [in NJ and PA] teaching dance, then I just happened to hit a market just as the Latin music from Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony began to explode on the scene. It happened at the same time I was going in that direction.
"I kind of grew out of all the spaces I was teaching in so I decided in the summer of 2000, that it was time to invest in a home for all the students who had been following me all over the place. The next year I
did , in fact, invest in the [Atrium] building and made it into a dance studio which incorporated not only my Salsa business which had started to grow, but also Ballroom.
"I constantly study with my Salsa dancing and go into different congresses.... taking workshops all day. Also I travel to New York once or twice a month to study with another performance group there called 'Charisma.' I really like the New York Style. I also train with Peter Kadel from Philadelphia who is one of the highest level teachers in what we call the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing which recognizes teachers internationally."
Capaldi stresses that she is not interested in judging competitions. "For me [studying] is a personal goal in order to become a better teacher."
Still, within the application of her consuming interest in dance, Capaldi's Atrium Dance Studio goes beyond the classes. People socialize. They have a good time, often culminating in the "Ballroom Mix Parties" with dinner and dancing. Sounds like a winner on the busy Route 130 Corridor.
Atrium Info: PH: 856.661.9166; www.atriumdance.com.