Tiffany Russell has been dancing all her life. And while she's traveled internationally, toured seven countries and 55 cities, and completed more than 100 shows, she finds her strongest performances in a space close to home.
Russell opened
Spartan Dance and Fit in 2010, and has steadily grown the business from a handful of students to an astonishing 400 students and 200 adult members today. That growth, she says, has driven her expansion within the borders of East Lansing: from her original location on Ann Street to the northern tier on Lake Lansing Road, to a new space in Carriage Hills Shopping Center at 6075 N. Hagadorn Road.
"I'm super excited to have enough space to add new services and classes and to share them with the community," says Russell. "We've gotten big enough where we're a presence. We're eager to have more people come in the doors, check out what we're doing, and grow with us."
Spartan Dance and Fit teaches dance and fitness to kids and adults. Russell says her youngest dancer is 2 while her oldest is 60-something. She also has a 70-year-old member who takes fitness classes. The studio encompasses all the essentials like dance, fitness, wellness, healthy living and social well being, and offers a dance company for serious dancers.
Russell worked with DTN management to convert a former grocery store into a 13,000-square foot dance and fitness studio. The new location is four-times the previous size of Russell's former studio. In addition to rooms for dance instruction, the facility features a personal training room, cycling and small group training rooms, a smoothie bar, a two-room massage area, and a top-of-the line sauna and locker room.
"Our product speaks for itself," says Russell. "Our dance families and fit members are a community. We have members of the month, social mixers, and group camps. It's all about community involvement and building this strength in the heart of East Lansing—for all Spartans."
Spartan Dance and Fit operates with a management team of six full-time employees and 36 instructors.
Source: Tiffany Russell, Owner, Spartan Dance and Fit Center
Writer: Ann Kammerer, News Editor
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