Katie Owings Takes The TedX Talk Stage on May 2nd

MAHTOMEDI, MN — 1 local dance studio owner, 7 dancers, and 2 choreographers will be presenting “How The Arts Can Impact the World…even from small town Mahtomedi,” a talk that is sure to impact and inspire our local community and the entire world on Saturday, May 2nd at Century College in Lincoln Mall for TedX Mahtomedi. Senior dancers will present a dance piece choreographed by teachers, Lauren Martin and Stephanie Narlock, followed by a talk by Katie Owings.

Miss Owings, the owner of Inspiration Performing Arts Center (IPAC), received a spot this year after she auditioned for the second year in a row. “To be honest, I totally bombed the first audition,” she says as she chuckles. “…So I thought, why not try it again? I made a promise that if I received a spot, that I would use this as inspiration for our students, as a reminder to never give up, and always keep going. We are all quite honored and humbled to be alongside such an amazing line-up this year.”

She’s known for that — inspiration. This year’s Ted Talk is based on her recent travels around the world, where she spent time in Haiti and Uganda teaching children dance, and growing service-oriented programs in these developing countries. Since then, she has founded a non-profit initiative called, Impact The World 501(c)3 (ImPACt for short) where teams of dancers, teachers, parents and More Than Just Great Dancing studio owners are being assembled to go to Haiti this August 2015, and Uganda in October 2015 to partake in ImPACt’s service-oriented arts-based programs.

“We are very grateful to have such an outpouring of support, and key partnerships with organizations like More Than Just Great Dancing, Healing Haiti, 1000 Shades of Green Safari and Kitenge Africa Charity Organization. With ImPACt, our hope is to bridge the gap so that all children can experience the arts in a safe, dynamic and nurturing environment. No matter the demographic, no matter the geographic location. It all starts from here, from our own community. Moral of the story, we really don’t have to go far to make an impact.”

TedX Mahtomedi will be held on Saturday, May 2nd from 9:00AM to 3:00PM at Century College Lincoln Mall in Mahtomedi, MN. The theme for this year’s Talk is “Why Not?” and topics included will be everything from “The Chemistry of Happiness” to “Preventing Homelessness: The Best Return on Investment.” Tickets are available now via online at tedxmahtomedi.com.

**Pictured are IPAC dancers and mentors who will be taking the stage on May 2nd - left to right - Megan Wintz, Rylee Zellers, Maddie Bell, Caroline Rutkiewicz, Annie Hoffman, Peyton Charlesworth, and in the middle is a younger IPAC dancer, Jaelyn Lende who is mentored by the older dancers at the center.

Founded by Katie Owings almost 10 years ago, Inspiration Performing Arts Center offers one of the most complete More Than Just Great Dancing dance, music, acting, art, yoga instruction programs in the Midwest. With classes geared for all ages and family members, IPAC provides ballet, tap, yoga, jazz, musical theater, lyrical, pointe and hip hop instruction to more than 215 students.

The studio is based in Mahtomedi, MN.