A first look inside Narrogin Dance Centre’s new studio on Federal Street

Narrogin’s dancers now have a new space to express themselves after dance teachers Tabitha Yuen and Stacey Halstead secured a new studio in the heart of town. The duo started up the Narrogin Dance Centre after they took the reins from the previous dance school owner just more than a year ago. The centre has been running out of the Narrogin Town Hall, where Ms Yen and Ms Halstead spent a year carting equipment back and forth for their daily classes. After growing in popularity and doubling enrolments, the dance centre has moved into its own studio at 52 Federal Street. “We’ve been working out of the Town Hall. It’s a great space but we were paying rent to be there, which would end up being higher then the money we made,” Ms Halstead said. “Now we have somewhere to permanently store our stuff and we don’t have to carry everything in and out. “The Town Hall was great at the start but we were always looking at getting our own space.” The studio has come to life with a fresh lick of paint, floor-to-ceiling curtains and large mirrors to help the dancers hone their technique. Ms Halstead said they took on the challenge of running the dance centre because they felt it was important to keep the artform alive. “When the last dance teacher was leaving she had about 60 students and they were all just absolutely heartbroken,” she said. “Dance was their outlet and they don’t necessarily want to play hockey, football or netball. “They were just devastated because they didn’t want to lose dance in Narrogin.” Ms Yuen said they aimed to create a safe space for everyone to express themselves through dance. “We pride ourselves on not just providing a safe space but we also encourage everyone to be themselves,” she said. “There is no judgment; we’ve got a big anti-bullying policy among all our kids.” Ms Halstead said they had big plans for the new year, including ballroom dancing and burlesque dancing for adults. The centre will be offering classes in jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, tap and acrobatics. “Now that we have our own space we can divide the studio t into two classes to give them more attention to the students rather than having one big class,” she said. “We’ve got a couple of brand new fitness classes starting this year that will be running in the morning.”