Township Dancer Carves Her Path in Performing Arts

Washington Township resident Danielle Hernandez has made a career out of dancing as a performer, teacher and — most recently — as the owner of a store selling clothes, shoes and other gear dancers need.

Hernandez said her store, On 1 Dancewear, started partially because her father was selling a clothing line called Salsa Gear. When the store opened in 2010, she said she wanted to expand to include other brands. They now carry about 20 different brands and cater to dancers, gymnasts and figure skaters from any age or proficiency level. Customers have come from as far away as Harriman, N.Y. for specific items they carry, Hernandez said.

"I try to have a little bit of everything," Hernandez said. "I don't want any customers to leave dissapointed because we didn't have what they were looking for."

For Hernandez, getting into the retail side of dance was the logical next step in her career. She began dancing at an early age and was coaching and teaching other girls while still a teenager. She has previously worked with students at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes and Don Bosco in Ramsey and has been teaching at the Ridgewood Performing Arts Center since it opened about six years ago.

"To be able to take what you're good at and what you love and bring it to other kids who are passionate about it is a really rewarding thing," Hernandez said.

Now On 1 Dancewear is about to celebrate its two-year anniversary in its temporary location at 27 S. Van Brunt Street in Englewood. Hernandez credits her contacts among local dance studios for a portion of the store's success. She and studio owners will recommend each other to students and the owner of the now-closed Movers & Shakers in Teaneck left On 1 Dancewear's phone number for her former customers.

While the store has grown, Hernandez says she still enjoys performing sometimes. In 2008 she recorded an album, Bringing in the Sun, and still sings around the area, usually in Hoboken or Manhattan. Performing is a life-long passion, she said.

"You just get immersed in it and it becomes your whole life," Hernandez said.