School of Dance Tip-Toes To The Top

"I love teaching the children to dance and I have developed a strong bond with them," said Kathrine Mordente, owner of the Hampton Bays School of Dance, between her busy class schedule on Wednesday.

Dancing certainly runs in Mordente's family. Her mother was a Broadway dancer who ran the Brookhaven School of Dance. Mordente spent her childhood at dance studios and then had the idea to start her own school here in the hamlet.

Hampton Bays School of Dance began at the Methodist Church hall in 1995, then moved to small studio, then another, as she outgrew each one. New dancers arrived every year and the popularity of the school blossomed.

Mordente's dream of a new, well-equipped dance studio was realized in 2007 when her school moved into its current home on Montauk Highway adjacent to the family's specialty food shop. The studio is bright with a wood-sprung dance floor and changing rooms and enrollment continues to grow.

Hampton Bays School of Dance offers dozens of classes per week for all ages starting with toddlers. Swing, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, ballroom, break-street, modern and more are all taught at the school. In fact, some of Mordente's former students have gone on to become dance majors in college and now have returned to help her teach.

Ballet is the foundation for the students to learn the "tools" of dance, said Mordente, and after that they branch into other types of dance.  For the youngest students, play dance and introduction to dance are offered. 

With the dance school, a family of her own, and a second family business (Scotto's Pork Store) she is, to say the least, a busy woman.  For years, she has focused her efforts on developing a premier dance school.

"I worked very hard to get to this point," said Mordente. "And obviously it paid off. I am very proud of the studio and of my students."

Maria Tuzzolo, 14 and a high school freshman, first enrolled at the school in the third grade She now takes six classes per week including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, point plus a new stretch class. On top of all that, Tuzzolo works as a dance school teaching assistant, helping out with the younger students.

"I like that there are numerous teacher and everyone has a different style," said Tuzzolo. "Everyone is very friendly and it's just really fun."

Tuzzolo has six recitals behind them and are busy preparing for the seventh, coming in June 2011. The annual two-day recitals, held at the Hampton Bays High School, each have a theme and are filled with elaborate routines and costumed dancers. The 2011 theme has yet to be revealed, but the dancers are certain it will once again be a standing-room-only event.