March 24, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 12
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Dancers enjoy one of the last classes at Jennifer Kliegel's Dance Studio of Park Slope, which will soon be closed down.
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del.icio.usA neighborhood institution is on its way out and more offices are on the way in.
The Park Slope Dance Studio, a neighborhood fixture on Seventh Avenue for 32 years, will close on June 30 — and parents are praying that the school’s owner, Jennifer Kliegel, can find another space before she gets pirouetted out.
Kliegel was informed last October that her lease wasn’t being renewed.
“They tell me my space is going to used for offices,” she said. “They didn’t even give me a chance to get a short extension.”
Kliegel, who’s been the studio’s sole owner since 1989, has been unable to find another space that is not prohibitively expensive.
“How much can I charge to teach children to dance?” she said.
But it’s not just losing her space that has her worried — Kliegel is most afraid that if she goes, her students, who range in age from 2 to 74, won’t have anywhere else to dance.
Some of her students are the kids of people Kliegel taught when they were children. She even taught Sen. Charles Schumer’s daughters — “Back when he was just Chuck,” she said.
“I feel like I’ve had a hand in raising these children,” said Kliegel.
Emma Starr took ballet at the dance studio when she was a 5-year-old. Now her daughter, Eliza, is learning ballet there.
“It’s a very warm and welcoming place,” said Starr, adding that being at the studio has taught her daughter confidence and lets her be a kid.
“It’s always been a community place, a part of growing up in Park Slope,” she added.
Kliegel would like to stay in Park Slope so parents won’t have far to go.
“I’m trying to stay positive,” she said. “You never know who’s out there.”
George and Nicholas Kotsonis, the owners of Kliegel’s space, had no comment.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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