Forty Years Later, King Centre Still Going Strong

Forty years ago, Nancy King was a newlywed dancer with a passion for introducing kids to the benefits of dance. Today, not much has changed.

Nancy and her husband Brendan own and operate the , which has locations in Mahwah and Wanaque. After 40 years of teaching dance, Nancy says she is still happy to watch kids’ lives change through dance.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop,” she said. “I always feel that there’s more to learn and more to give.”

In 1971, Nancy and Brendan converted an old deli and warehouse in Wanaque into a dance studio.  Nancy says she had danced since childhood, and was still working professionally when she decided to try teaching. Seven years ago, the Kings opened another location on Whitney Road in Mahwah.

“I saw a void here, and I thought I could fill it,” she said.

The credits racked up by King’s students since then speak for themselves. Her four children, who all went through the King Centre Performing Arts programs, have been on Broadway in shows like Movin Out,  Wicked, and Cry Baby, have toured around the country and internationally, danced in Cirque du Soleil shows, and appeared on television shows like “The Young and The Restless."

She has also had students move on to become Radio City Rockettes, dance and act in musical films like Chicago, perform in 16 different Broadway shows, tour with ballet and other dance companies, and choreograph for major NYC productions. She’s also had several young students perform in shows with roles for kids, like Billy Elliott and The Lion King. But she says she would not recommend that for everyone.

“It’s a completely different life, becoming a professional at such a young age. Being in the industry does make you grow up really quickly, and parents need to decide if that’s the best thing for their children,” she said. “They end up missing a lot, so you have to weigh what they are gaining with what they are missing.”

That’s part of the reason why the Centre teaches students of all skill levels and aspirations.

“If kids want to pursue a professional career in performing, they really need to have the passion and desire to do it, not just the talent,” King said. “There are a lot of skills kids gain from dancing or performing that they can use later in life, regardless of what they end up doing,” King said.

She said kids learn discipline while experiencing the freedom of expression, learn how to work in teams, become leaders, better athletes and more well-rounded when they are exposed to the performing arts, especially at a young age.

The King Centre in Mahwah teaches about 70 classes a week in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop, voice, acting, playing instruments, and more. King said her 10 instructors are all professionals, with one currently working in NYC.

The Kings will top off their 40^th year in business with the annual Nutcracker performance this December, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary. Orchestra tickets for the December 2 and 3 performances at the Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne are $25. The show is put on by the King’s “New Jersey Foundation for Dance and Theatre Arts.”

The non-profit organization, which they started 1998, is a company of dancers aimed at “increase[ing] the community’s awareness of the arts and to stimulate and encourage the study and presentation of the performing arts, educationally as well as artistically,” according to the King Centre website.

Nancy King says the non-profit company is another way she can offer the opportunity to learn and grow to her many students. Which, she says, is why she has loved the past forty years, and hopes for many more.

“I have about 50 students who are the children of former students. I hear back from so many people who have taken something from here and used it at school, or at work or in their families, and that’s what I love most about what I’ve been doing for the last 40 years. I love the kids,” King said.