Dynasty Academy Of Dance Lighting The Torch with Feet Of Flames
Jack Bloeser, owner of Dynasty Academy of Dance teaches by one simple equation, "Hard Work = Success."
By dancing this equation, Dynasty has leapt from 18 to 62 students plus company in six short years. Located in Margate, Florida at the Peppertree Plaza (5440 W Sample Road), Jacks says, "Our niche is competition and we are not for the light of heart." With instruction in ballet, tap, jazz and modern for ages 2 to adult, Dynasty is known as a hard-core competition studio, which means parents send their children there for discipline and a high level of education. Many students do a pre-professional track to prep for collegiate dance study and careers in professional performance.
Most students study between 12 to 20 hours a week. Their ballet program is strong because ballet is the basis of dance. Many students who began with tap have since expanded their repertoire to be fully skilled in all disciplines including: modern, musical theatre, lyrical, and jazz. In addition, they take study 3 to 9 hours of ballet a week.
Jack and all four of his teachers are degreed professionals. In a business with no set sanctioning board or high standards, he takes pride that they have highly credentialed academic and collegiate backgrounds.
Born and raised in South Jersey and Philadelphia, his parents' love of the arts gave him a rich cultural heritage. He studied piano at age six, sang in choir and performed in musicals in junior and senior high school.
Dr. Diana Dohrman, Jack's high school music and theater teacher was his first true mentor. Then, a life defining moment came in his sophomore year while he stood in an auditorium full of kids who had never tapped before. In walked Pepper Pedansky, an ex-Rockette. She came to choreograph the musical "No No Nanette." Jack was spellbound, Pepper sparked a fire for tap in Jack that has never stopped burning.
Jack recalls a rich theatrical and musical experience entwined with his academic education. His parents grew up in the golden era at a time in history when music and radio were rich, giving them wisdom and deep appreciations for live theater and music. They developed certain musical tastes and styles as a result of being children of the depression and they realized the beauty of passing these on to their own children.
Jack's mother forever danced around the kitchen. She would grab him, and they would become Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. During childhood summers he joined his parents for "Theater in the Round," where they watched many greats like: Mickey Rooney in "George M.," Edie Adams in "Anything Goes," and Barbara Eden in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." He remembers, as a 13-year-old, being glued to the television, watching Lena Horn, Steve Lawrence & Edie Gorme, Lawrence Welk and fabulous musical specials like: "Liza with a Z," directed by Bob Fosse.
After graduating Rutgers University with a musical theater degree with a minor in dance, Jack danced and sang in Atlantic City at new casino openings. He performed at live industrial productions for business VIPs such as Dupont and IBM. For 21 years he toured nationally with road companies like "Grease." He worked with greats like Gregory Hines and Maureen McGovern until one day he decided to migrate permanently to South Florida's beckoning sunshine. The time had come. It is no coincidence that Jack's last road show was titled, "Leader of the Pack." He broke out to be just that when what began as a gradual teaching schedule exploded in all directions and resulted in the birth of Dynasty Academy of Dance.
Jack credits live musicals he saw as a child and young adult, fabulous chorus dancing and seeing greats like Gregory Hines in "Jelly's Last Jam," (one of his all time favorite shows,) as his greatest influences. He cherishes and prominently displays an old poster and hat in his office from "Jelly's." Other enormous influences came seeing Liza Minelli and the "Tap Dance Kid" in NY with Savion Glover, a moment when he dedicated his soul to tap for life, although he still teaches all disciplines of dance skillfully.
Jack has seen the spark that lit the torch in him years ago passed to his students. In 2005 he accompanied three of his youngest students to qualify for the USA Tap Team at The World Tap Championships held annually in Germany where this amazing trio won the Gold Medals in their divisions. Conner Yokis, won World Champion Male Tapper (for ages 12 and under,) Alexis Juliano won World Champion Female Tap Dancer (for ages 12 and under,) and Shaina Tobin won the Bronze Medal. These kids have an enormous love for tap. They go to conventions and hunger for new material constantly. They tap in grocery stores, under school desks, and anywhere they travel. Those young feet just cannot stop tapping. Some of these students have been studying tap with Jack for up to 9 years. They tap and are also hugely versatile in all areas of jazz, musical theater, and ballet.
"The life skills imparted at Dynasty include discipline and values that produce success in many levels whether it will ultimately be in the boardroom, the courtroom, or any professional venue," says Jack. "If they are an executive for IBM, or a financial analyst and not a dancer, and the boss says it has to be done this way, and not this way, these students already know this lesson. They learn to take correction for whatever art form or discipline, whether pedestrian, or artistic and apply it mentally and physically to translate into success."
Jack was raised in a strict household. He imparts this early influence by laying out the rules and expecting them to be followed. "You don't achieve this level of success without strict rules, " he says. Today he worries about the FCAT situation as opposed to getting hands on instruction. "There are so many pressures on young adults (teenagers) that it takes a tender balance of discipline coupled with the art of kind compromise."
Today, children who lack experience with group activities miss an important life lesson, but at Dynasty, teamwork is paramount, which results in a very close-knit group. Success means much more to these kids than a trophy. It is an enormous accomplishment for a child of 10 to spend 2 minutes alone on an Olympic-style stage in Germany before 3,000 people who have traveled from villages all over the provinces to see such an event. It requires courage, confidence and love of what they do. It shows anything is possible to these kids.
Jack is in tune with the modern world. He visits NY 4 or 5 times a year to stay current and see new shows on Broadway. He runs Dillard High School's tap program where he gleans enormous knowledge from Hanna Baumgarten, the high school's dance department head and director of the Dance Now Ensemble. Hanna also teaches at Interlochen during the summer months.
Jack watches MTV and says the kids continually bring in other influences of urban music and new choreog-raphy for him. His teachers are always current. They continually study, take classes, and attend conventions. He sees a huge flip in what's going on in the arts today. For instance, "A Chorus Line" is being revived once again. He ponders why new materials are not emerging. "Is it so expensive to produce new material people fear taking a chance, or are the ideas just not there?"
Not too long ago, all 60 families involved in the studio traveled with Jack to New York for nine days to attend the American Dance Awards Nationals, where they met with great success. In the 5000.00 Gold Family of Excellence Award (the highest scoring piece for 12 and under) for "Get Your Shine On" with a cast of 50, Conor Yockus won Junior Male Dancer of the Year
Where will Dynasty Academy of Dance go from here? Jack is a very organized person who sets goals. He always thinks about what is around the next turn. Lately he has been judging multiple competitions so that he can sit on the other side of the table and absorb the entire perspective. In the professional competitions of today, judges sit for 10, 12 and 13 hours. They potentially see 200 solos and most likely 210 will use the same song. Therefore, Jack's goal is to never use a piece of music that has been previously used. He spends hours searching endlessly for special music, and does all of his own editing while striving for artistic creativity. His next goal is to develop an even younger dance company to encompass ages 4 & 5. A big challenge! He wants to see how young he can start them. They will do a single number in competition and have one costume. Jack stresses, "When they are that young, chances are they have not been trained incorrectly."
A golden nugget from Jack Bloeser, a man who just wants to tap for the rest of his life,... "DON'T STOP DREAMING... JUST KEEP DANCING."