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Taylor
Gymnastics Cheerleading and Dance has been in Perry since 1975. Olivia
Gale started the original business in 1975 with just twenty
students. Over the course of nineteen years, the business grew and
most of Perry's young people had been enrolled at some point in
their life. The Dance Workshop taught students the love of dance and a passion for performing.
A
young eight year old girl began taking a Ballet class not knowing
that she would one day make a career of it! That young girl was Lisa
Arrowood. Lisa was a horse-riding tomboy so her love for Ballet came
as quite a shock to those that knew her. The class gave her
confidence and boosted her self esteem, although at eight years old,
she was there simply because she liked it! She continued taking Ballet,
Pointe and Jazz through High School and began teaching for her
instructor Olivia Gale in 1987. Lisa taught dance for six years and
eventually bought the business in 1993. She began dabbling in
gymnastics when the business was in need of a coach for the younger
students in 1995. She quickly developed a passion for the sport and
began attending every USAG coaching clinic she could. Her dance
background made the transition to gymnastics very easy since both
are based on biomechanics and body alignment. Her obsession with the
sport continues and she is always looking for new ways to improve
gymnastics for her students. She has brought in coaches from across
the country so the students can have top-notch
instruction.
The performing arts
program continues to thrive under the direction of very talented
instructors. We also have a growing Theatre department.
The annual concert continues to be a local highlight where the
students showcase their talents and put on an awesome show! The gymnastics program has evolved over the
years
from a small Saturday morning tumbling class to a full blown
competitive program for boys and girls. Perry got it’s first taste
of gymnastics in 1991 when Loree Galimore (a gym owner from
Tallahassee) came to teach a few tumbling classes on Saturday
morning at our dance studio, The Dance Workshop. This continued for
two years until Loree and husband Ron received an incredible job offer
with USAG. They sold their gym and moved to Indianapolis
where they continue to work today. Local physical education teacher
and Loree’s assistant, Dinny Turner, assumed coaching
responsibilities and began teaching gymnastics twice a week in 1993, the year Lisa
bought The Dance Workshop. The
studio was located in the upstairs of an old building in downtown
Perry. Over the next four years, the gymnastics program grew into a
five day a week program, complete with all apparatus (granted our
“bars” were old P-Bar rails mounted between structural beams!).
Lisa decided that if
the gymnastics
program was
going to continue, our kids needed a “real” gym. In 1997, we
built phase one of the current facility and changed the name to The
Dance Workshop and
Gymnastics
Center. Since then, there have been two major additions to improve the gym
and many coaches have contributed to make us who and what we are
today. In 2004, we changed our name to Taylor Gymnastics
Cheerleading and Dance to be more representative of who we are and
what we offer. We continue to grow and learn and are proud to have a
facility where dedicated students can train to become successful
athletes and performers while developing confidence, poise,
strength, discipline and courage.
Taylor Gymnastics Cheerleading and Dance is located in the heart
of downtown Perry. The facility is approximately 15,500 square feet
and houses two dance studios, a gymnastics and cheerleading
facility, pro shop and a spacious viewing area. In 2002 we purchased
the 2,800 sq ft building located directly behind us. This building
is used for our after school program and gives us another avenue to
enrich the lives of young people.
"Lisa
would like to thank her teacher Olivia Gale for teaching her......
work hard to achieve your goals and reach for the
stars!"
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