The Studio for Dance

The Studio for Dance has served the Cincinnati area for 40 years, built on the values of commitment, compassion, camaraderie, charisma, and grace. The studio welcomes children from preschool through age 18 and teaches ballet, tap, jazz, clogging, lyrical, contemporary, and acro. Whether a student arrives as a beginner or aspires to pre-professional training, the studio offers carefully structured pathways: a preschool and kindergarten program feeds into both a recreational program and an award-winning competition and performing company program.

The teaching staff holds college dance degrees and professional performance experience. Director and owner Shari Poff earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Cincinnati and has studied ballet at Indiana University and the University of Cincinnati, alongside tap, jazz, and clogging. She has led the studio for 30 years. Linda Chambers, a 30-year staff member, majored in dance at Stephens College and holds an education degree from the University of Tennessee; she teaches the youngest dancers and has developed an adult program in ballet, tap, and clogging for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. Jenny Leinberger-Goodlett danced her way through the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music on scholarship, trained at the School of American Ballet in New York and Ballet Met in Columbus, and performed with the Cincinnati Ballet Company as a member of the Corps de Ballet, including soloist roles in Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker. Jeanne Mirus is an original Studio Company dancer who graduated with honours from CCM with a BFA in Dance, trained at the School of Chicago Ballet and Ballet Met, and danced with the Lexington Ballet Company and Ballet Theater of Chicago. Della Lehane holds a BFA from CCM and trained at Broadway Dance Center and STEPS in New York; her choreography has been featured on NBC's Today Show and at Carnegie Hall, and she has won Cincinnati's Arts Association Overtures Award Scholarship. Geneva L. Kinard Woode is an accomplished pianist, composer, and educator with 30 years of teaching experience, having served as assistant pianist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra.

Classes run September through May each year. The recreational schedule includes preschool ballet and tap on Saturday mornings, kindergarten ballet, tap and jazz, first grade ballet, tap and jazz, and second and third grade ballet, tap and jazz classes also on Saturday. Weekday and Sunday options include Wednesday teen ballet, Thursday child intermediate ballet, jazz and tap classes, teen jazz and contemporary, and Sunday clogging at three levels. A two-day recital at the end of May showcases all dancers. The studio's alumni include dancers who have pursued professional careers with ballet companies, modern companies, film, and Broadway. Four dancers have won the Cincinnati Arts Association prestigious Overture Award Scholarships. Studio Company dancers have performed with the Blue Ash/Hamilton Symphony, the Lima Symphony, the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus, the Windsor Symphony in Canada, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra at Music Hall, Riverbend, and Carnegie Hall in New York. Students have been featured on NBC's Today Show and have won state, regional, and national dance competitions, frequently earning the "Most Entertaining Performers" award.

The studio emphasises personalised instruction and individual artistic development. Make-up classes are available for most age groups. If extended closure becomes necessary, the studio will move to Zoom classes following the regular schedule. Registration for the 2025–2026 season is open online or by phone.

Classes are structured by age and level, from preschool through teen, with Saturday morning recreational classes and weekday options including intermediate and teen levels. You'll be placed according to your experience, and the studio maintains a nurturing, family-like atmosphere where thousands of students have discovered their talent over the years.

The teaching staff includes director Shari Poff (30 years at the studio, trained in ballet, tap, jazz and clogging), Linda Chambers (30-year staff member, Stephens College degree in dance), Jenny Leinberger-Goodlett (CCM scholarship graduate, former Cincinnati Ballet Company Corps member), Jeanne Mirus (CCM graduate, original Studio Company dancer), Della Lehane (CCM BFA, trained at Broadway Dance Center and STEPS in New York, Overtures Award winner), and Geneva L. Kinard Woode (pianist and composer with 30 years of teaching experience, assistant pianist for Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra).

The studio welcomes beginners of all ages from preschool upward and carefully places students to match their level, with classes ranging from preschool and kindergarten through teen and adult levels.