PORT TOWNSEND — What can you say about your profession of 50 years?
Joan O’Meara, founder of the O’Meara Dance Studio of Port Townsend in 1965, doesn’t go on about it.
In the spirit of action speaking louder than words, her studio’s dancers — 165 of them — will demonstrate what they’ve learned in four shows in the Port Townsend High School auditorium, 1500 Van Ness St.
Tonight is opening night for the studio’s 50th anniversary production — the swan song for O’Meara, 78, who will retire after the curtain falls Sunday.
Tickets at the door will be $18 for adults and $12 for youngsters age 5 to 18. Show time is 6 p.m. today through Sunday.
The performances will cover the gamut: O’Meara’s own tap-dance and musical theater students will step out, along with performers from the studio’s hip-hop, lyrical dance, ballet, jazz and break-dancing classes.
O’Meara’s daughter Erin, as well as Nan DuMond, Simon Tavoi and Jaylin Slagle, teach dancers age 5 and older at the studio above the Uptown Theatre at 1110 Lawrence St.
“Our studio is a second family to a lot of kids,” said Erin, who teaches 19 classes per week.
She’s fiercely proud of her family’s business.
Erin started dancing at age 3 and began teaching at 18, almost two decades ago.
Today, she leads the ODS youth dance company and has traveled with the performers to competitions on the west and east coasts, Las Vegas and the Bahamas.
But “Erin hated dancing” at first, said O’Meara. She’s watched her youngest daughter turn into a woman who’s as passionate about dancing as she is about teaching.
And Erin is beloved by her students, O’Meara said.
Erin’s mom has delighted in teaching, too, but now that she’s nearing her 79th birthday, she’s ready to have “the kids” — her daughter’s generation — take over.
Teaching tap and musical theater “at my age,” O’Meara said, “you look kind of funny.”
Fortunately, she’s got a supple sense of humor.
O’Meara, who grew up in Port Townsend, hailed other performing artists who got their start here.
They include Nanda, the martial arts-comedy troupe whose members danced at her studio years ago.
Tomoki Sage, one of “the Nanda boys,” as they’re known, will perform a surprise dance with Erin in this week’s show.
“We have a lot of boys: 15 in the show,” which is unusual for a dance studio, Erin added.
Boys, girls, men, women: She revels in carrying on her mother’s legacy.
“I teach because I love giving people the love of dance and giving them something that is good and healthy,” she said.
“When you come to our studio, you know that it’s a good and safe place to be.”
Come show time, Erin gets to see confidence in motion. Watching the kids light up on stage, she said, makes all those classes worthwhile.
As for older kids or those who aren’t kids anymore, “it’s never too late to start.”
For more information, phone the O’Meara Dance Studio at 360-379-4951.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
