Hagen operates its new location Creation Dance Studio

Stevie Hagen has taken a huge step forward with his company, Creation Dance Studio.

The longtime Mercer Island resident, dancer and instructor welcomed the students to his sparkling new studio for the first day of classes on July 10. The 3,400-square-foot south space at 8451 SE 68th St. Suite 210 features a pair of 1,000-square-foot studios on which will bounce a multitude of feet of dancers ages 18 months to 88 years old.

Classes on the program to be taught by six staff members include ballet, hip-hop, jazz, musical theater, tap dancing, pointe, hip-hop fusion, and jazz / lyrical fusion. Parents or guardians can accompany their little ones up to 3 years old in Dance With Me classes. Fall registration opens July 15 and information is available at https://www.creationdancestudio.com/.

The new youth program joins the pre-existing adult ballet and pointes classes that Hagen, 27, has been offering since 2016. Before her mentor and friend Deena Dunning died of cancer that year, she passed on her program to then-supply teacher Hagen.

“They adored him. She was amazing. And I had the honor to help her and teach her when she couldn’t get there, ”said Hagen, who rebranded the program as Creation Dance Studio. “I just hope to continue to be as strong a community as she was able to create in her program.”

Hagen, who is also a certified Pilates and barre instructor, sublet a studio on the north end of the island until the business she rented was closed during the pandemic.

“So after that, I was like, ‘OK, I guess it’s time for a new adventure. We’ll see what happens.’ And that’s when I discovered this space and I felt good and decided to move on, ”said Hagen smiling on July 8 as he glanced down. to empty studios that would be filled with dancers two days later.

It has been 25 years since Hagen first took to the dance floor during tap dance lessons on the island with instructor Camille Chrysler. Fast forward to high school and she was trained at the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) and then received her BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts.

At PNB, she performed in “The Nutcracker”, “Hansel and Gretel” and more, and at Cornish, she added another dance element to her repertoire by delving into the choreography. Thinking back on her career, Hagen finds it amusing that she walked through the door with a huge love for hip-hop and ended up turning to ballet as her main passion.

“I originally planned to audition for professional ballet companies in my senior year. And then I realized how much I loved teaching. And I was like, “You know, this is the direction I’m supposed to take,” Hagen said, noting that she felt her calling to be a teacher as she attended a teaching methods class at the school. during his final year at Cornish. While teaching her peers, it all kicked in and she never looked back.

While teaching dance, it is an honor for Hagen to see children and adults flourish while expressing and challenging themselves in his positive, safe and supportive environment.

“I’m so excited to be able to bring and provide a place for the kids to experience their passion for dancing on Mercer Island just like I did,” she said.

That being said, Hagen laced up his ballet shoes and walked around one of the studios to take a look around as the Journalistthe camera has moved away.

For the studio’s full COVID-19 policies, visit https://www.creationdancestudio.com/covid-19.