It all began with a class called Bailemos-Let’s Dance in 2005 …

In September 2005, while newly pregnant with my 3rd child (which I didn’t know at the time), I taught the first Bailemos-Let’s Dance class on a Saturday morning in St Matt’s Church Hall. I was a lawyer at the time and the mother of two daughters, ages 6 and 4 (now 24 and 22!). Their father is a Latin and Ballroom dancer from Colombia so Latin music and Spanish language were a large part of my children’s lives when they were growing up.

When my husband put salsa or cha cha music on, I would see how instinctively my children responded to the music and how much JOY it brought them.

Which planted the seed of this crazy idea for a Latin Dance and Spanish language class that was FUN for the children and also fun for the adults they brought to class with them. Oh, and I would teach it. However crazy it sounded, it worked and families loved it! I am beyond grateful to say that they came back year after year.

I am thrilled to say that I remain close friends with families whose children took classes with me in 2005 and 2006. Those children are now in college which blows my mind.

Over time, I added different classes and taught at different locations - at St Matt’s Church Hall, at Hudson Athletic Club and then at 1200 Park Avenue which was a coloring book store called Creative Little Monsters at the time. I took over the lease of 1200 Park Avenue in 2008 and offered classes and birthday parties in that studio for almost 8 years.

I added Pintemos-Let’s Paint (an art class with Spanish); music classes called Groovy Baby, Toddlers Rock! and Drumming ‘n’ Strumming; as well as drama and improv classes for school age children. It was SUCH a happy space with great energy.

For the longest time, it was a one-woman show! Then I started to add teachers. The very first teacher who joined me was Alejandra Sapirstein (Miss Ale) who proved to be an absolute natural when it came to teaching such young children. It was SUCH a pleasure working with Ale for almost 8 years. She started her own bilingual art classes when I took a break from Creative Groove Studio in 2016 and has gone from strength to strength as she has built SantiagoDance for kids. I couldn’t be more proud of her and more thrilled for her!

I got to see SO many toddlers blow their first bubbles and take their first (dance) steps and celebrate their birthdays. It was a pleasure and honor to be a part of so many children’s early years.

My own children spent HOURS in the studio taking classes and celebrating their own birthdays.

Oh the birthdays we celebrated in that studio! I wish that I had kept count of how many children we sang Happy Birthday to during those 8 years. We had all kinds of entertainment from music to dance to art to science to puppet shows to magic shows and to wild animals! My own son had a party with exotic animals and I moved further and further away as the snakes got larger and larger! As I look at the photos below, I realize that this birthday party was shortly after he had cut his own bangs.

Hundreds of families spent so many happy hours in that space and it still makes me smile when I walk past the studio which is now the home of a local interior designer.

In 2014, I created a preschool prep program called Get in the Groove for Preschool and we welcomed our first students into the program in September 2014. We offered the program for two years and received such wonderful feedback from families whose children were enrolled in the classes. I still bump into former students as I walk around Hoboken and it always makes my day!

I took a break from Creative Groove Studio in September 2016 to focus on some of my own creative projects and to spend time with my parents when they were ill. I wasn’t sure if that was going to be the end of Creative Groove Studio but I’m thrilled to say that it wasn’t the end of Creative Groove’s journey and that the next chapter began in October 2019.

Which as we now know was not the best timing to relaunch an early childhood education program …

As a small business, COVID had a devastating impact but we have survived. We welcomed students back into the classroom in October 2020 and it has been wonderful to see them thrive and grow and form friendships with their classmates.

We are so very grateful to everyone at Mile Square Theatre for welcoming us into their space and supporting us through the most challenging two years imaginable!

The 2024/2025 School Year will be Creative Groove’s final year as I am starting a new business part-time in January 2024. My son will graduate in June 2025 and I plan to spend more time in Europe offering retreats with my new business. I was pregnant with my son when I started offering children’s classes in 2005 and it feels like a full circle moment to close the business when he graduates. It will be a bittersweet moment for sure.

Creative Groove Studio is - and always has been - a business run from a mother’s perspective. My teachers and I treat all of the children the way that we would want our own children to be treated and we show the parents the respect and gratitude that we hope to receive as parents when we enroll our own children in classes.

When your child takes a class with us, you will become a part of the Creative Groove Studio family.

We can’t wait to welcome you!