Resilient Dance Studio Owner Emerges After Hurricanes Flooded Her Out Twice

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Floods may have shut down Julie Barbieri's children's dance studio twice but they couldn't keep her down. Barbieri has re-emerged and opened Bridgewater Dance & Music in a new location this time.

Barbieri of Hillsborough is using some space inside Freedom Martial Arts at 1335 Prince Rodgers Ave. in Bridgewater for classes.

She always had a passion for dance but what really spurred the idea of her studio was her children.

"I started a moms club when I had my first kid. I would put on music, toys, and things fort of evolved," said Barbieri.

She found a place in Manville in 2005 and two weeks before she was set to open Hurricane Irene hit and flooded her out.

Luckily, her landlord at the time helped her rebuild. Then Hurricane Ida hit in 2021 and Barbieri was flooded all over again with 7 feet of water inside her school.

It took five weeks to drain.

"The new landlord just left it. Everything was rotted," said Barbieri.

She immediately started looking for temporary locations because she thought the landlord might fix it. But he didn't answer.

Financially it didn't pay to repair it so Barbieri walked away. She held classes in spaces she could find but it wasn't until Master Kyle from Freedom Martial Arts reached out that she found a permanent home.

Now she offers music, dance and tumble classes for children ages 6 months to 4 years old. She also offers drop-in classes as well.

She has a Rhythm & Rhyme Baby/Toddler Music class, Rockin' & Rollin' Tumbling Music Class, and a Ballet with Me class.

All classes are 45 minutes, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, and are parent involved.

She also is planning a teen and adult tap class. And she also teaches private zoom adult tap lessons.

Surviving all the hardships was all worth it for Barbieri who "loves making babies smile."

"It's my favorite part," said Barbieri.

For more information visit MainStreetDanceAndMusic.com or facebook.com/BridgewaterDanceAndMusic or instagram.com/julie_nj_taps.

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