Smitty’s taps into diversified dance world

 Smitty’s Performing Arts Center, a dance studio located in West Omaha, provides  diverse offerings that allow students various  opportunities to grow as dancers, such as ballet, jazz, tap, pointe, hip hop, contemporary, musical theater, acrobatics and aerial silks. During the summer, the studio also offers camps, intensive workshops and specialized clinics.  “Our camps range from being themed to focusing on technique,” said Tim Smith, choreographer and owner of the studio. “Our biggest event is our Bootcamp in which we bring guest teachers from all over the country to Omaha to teach and inspire our dancers.” For Smith, dance has always been a part of his life. 

“My older sister was on the high school dance team, and – being 3 – I heard that music and that’s when it began…. Music and dance has always been there.”  

As he grew, so did his interest and investment. “[When] I was old enough to train, that is when I fell in love with the athleticism and creativity of being able to fuse together to create art.”

That passion has brought opportunity.   “Being part of the choreography/field direction team for the last 15 years for the Super Bowl halftime show has its perks!” Smith said.

For his dance students, Smith sees an evolving culture. “Twenty-five years ago, social media and television were just starting to be pushed in the market. Shows like ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ to the social media craze of TikTok, have brought it to light. And with that coming to light, now there’s more jobs in the industry for male dancers, even with breakdancing now being part of the Olympics in Paris. It’s a great time to be a dancer!”

Not only is Smitty’s diverse with its offerings, it’s diverse when it comes to its students. 

“Diversity is very important to me and my staff,” Smith said. “I always say that our studio platform is built like a buffet, with lots of choices. Having a variety of staff and classes helps our dancers be workable in the industry. Having the knowledge to branch in all different areas after high school if they choose this line of work is important as well,”  he said.

Junior Nicholas Pudys is one of the three Papio South students who dance at this studio. He said the stereotype that dance is traditionally a female sport is not historically accurate. 

“I feel like a lot [of the stereotype] stems from high school,” Pudys said. “I feel like more adults understand, because they see more ballet, [and] ballet originally was almost fully male – and same with musicals. In all of Shakespeare’s plays, most of the girls were played by guys, and everything was male. So ballet kind of stemmed from it being like an art, a lot of guys did it. And high schoolers see dance as just the dance team, because when there’s only girls on a team, they’re obviously going to play to their strengths and do something more sassy and more stereotypical and more feminine. So then guys can associate all dance with that, because that’s what they’re used to seeing. It makes sense, because you grow up seeing something, so it’s hard to change your opinion right then and there, but I feel like that kind of stems from it, because I also feel like people forget the roots of dance.”

Dancer Jude Guddendorf, another Papio South junior, said he also saw the stereotypes..

“Well, it is true that mainly women do dance. But surprisingly nowadays the [dance] world is getting bigger and bigger for men. Men have been able to make their own styles and rhythms to dance more than ever before. Dance is now abundant with men in hip hop, B-Boy, house, even Broadway there are countless men. I believe that the stereotype will soon be broken, because more and more men are coming into the dance world.”

At Smitty’s, that interest starts young. On a recent day at the studio, 9-year-old Holden Fabry took an interest in sharing his own experience as a young dancer.

“Here, there’s more ways to get used to dance and people, and I feel like everyone here is so supportive of what you do,” Fabry said. “I feel like our competition team, we see each other four to five  days a week for hours, so it’s like, we’re basically a big family because we grow up together from when we’re kids ‘til we graduate.” 

Papio South sophomore Ava Finley said the tribulations are many that go along with competitive dancing.

“I wish more people knew what all goes into it, because it’s a lot of hard work being at the studio for four to five days a week for three-plus hours, and I wish that more people knew all the dedication and hard work I put into it,” Finley said. “A lot of the time it’s underrated, and people don’t really realize how hard competitive dance is.”

For each dancer, there’s something about Smitty’s that draws them back each year.

“I love the opportunity we’re given with dance choreographers,” Pudys said. “That’s probably my favorite thing. I love being able to build these connections with people and meet these really cool and fascinating people that I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to before, and build friendships and explore different forms of art. Because I feel like when you’re in a studio with the same three teachers, there’s not much [variety], and I feel like here we’re lucky enough to bring in all these different people so we get to learn so many different minor genres and stuff. It’s very fun.” 

“I just like the constant challenge,” Finley said. “Every class there’s something new that I can learn, and I feel like it’s taught me a lot to just find myself and find my passion for dance. And I just feel like it’s brought a lot of my personality out to the dance world, and it’s helped me be myself.” 

“I love dancing at Smitty’s for the community that it has become. I have made so many friends while dancing here and have improved my own ability tenfold compared to how I was even just last year. We have guest choreographers come in, so we are able to learn different styles from people all over the world and get to learn their own techniques and knowledge…. Smitty’s is a great place to be if you wanna get a whole wide variety of dance and an impactful community who welcomes you with open arms.”