Studio One Presents: studioonedanceacademy.co.za | Our Blog

STUDIO ONE DANCE ACADEMY
May 22
7 min read

Updated: Jun 6

A New Website. A Proper Beginning: Studio One Dance Academy's Journey

"We teach dance. In doing so, we help children become themselves."

— Paula & Jillian, Co-Founders, Studio One Dance Academy

A Long-Overdue Introduction to Our Growing Community

Some Milestones Deserve More Than a Quiet Rollout

We could have simply launched this website with a timetable and a registration form. However, Studio One is more than just a schedule. Before you explore our classes, read about our studios, or find the perfect schedule for your week, let us share who we are and what we believe.

This is our first blog post, and we intend it to be the first of many. If you are one of our founding families in Brackenfell or Durbanville, welcome back. Thank you for everything. If you have just discovered us while searching for dance classes in Cape Town, the Northern Suburbs, or the Winelands, welcome. You are in exactly the right place.

The Belief at the Centre of Everything

Studio One Was Built on a Single, Unwavering Conviction: Dance is for Everyone

Yes, everyone. Dance is not just for children who already move gracefully. It is not limited to families with a history in performance. It is not only for the naturally coordinated or the fearlessly expressive.

Dance is for everyone.

Consider the two-year-old who hasn’t yet found her feet. Think of the ten-year-old who moves like she was born to compete. Picture the adult who danced as a child and has spent twenty years quietly missing it without ever naming why. Imagine the parent who signed their daughter up for a trial class, stayed to watch, and found themselves wanting to join in.

We opened our first studio in Brackenfell with that belief. Over the years, it has not shifted by a single degree.

“We didn’t set out to build four studios across the Western Cape. We set out to build one place where children could discover themselves through movement. The rest followed, because the belief was right.”

— Paula & Jillian

What We’ve Learned About Community

A Surprising Discovery for New Families

One of the things we hear most often from new families is how surprised they are by what they find here. It’s not just about teaching. It’s about emerging and belonging.

This sense of community wasn’t engineered on paper. It emerged slowly and naturally from years of watching children grow alongside each other. Friendships form at the barre. Shared nerves arise before a first performance. Pride follows after. Even our newest instructors know all of the students by name—not because they have memorized a register, but because they genuinely care about each one.

We have seen students arrive for their first class, barely making eye contact, too nervous to move freely. Over the weeks and months, we have watched them bloom. The change is not just physical; it is emotional and social. A child who finds her confidence in a dance studio carries that confidence into every other room she enters: the classroom, the playground, the audition, the interview, and throughout life.

We nurture this community deliberately. We do this through group performances, workshops, seasonal events, and even quirky 'water-bottle' or show-and-tell days with our younger groups. Across all four studios and through our school outreach programme, we bring dance directly into classrooms. The warmth you feel when you walk through the door for the first time is not a programme; it is simply who we are.

We invest in cultivating positive vibes within our collective groups. The more harmonious a collective is, the more individuals thrive.

What We Teach

A Broad Curriculum for Diverse Connections

Our curriculum is broad by design. Different children connect with movement in different ways. Our role is to find that connection for each one and honor it with serious, joyful, highly-focused, expert teaching. Across eight disciplines and every age group from two years old to adult, here is what Studio One offers:

Ballet

The technical foundation of all great movement. Posture, discipline, musicality, and body awareness—ballet supports everything that follows, regardless of which style a student ultimately loves most.

Modern & Contemporary

Expressive, fluid movement that teaches dancers to translate emotion into physical form. Freedom and structure are held in balance.

Lyrical

A beautiful, emotive blend of ballet and jazz technique. Storytelling through movement at its most graceful and precise.

Acro

Strength, flexibility, and artistry fused with gymnastic athleticism. Dynamic, demanding, and genuinely exciting to perform.

Hip-Hop

Vibrant, rhythm-driven, and rooted in joy, energy, and individual expression. A consistent favorite at every performance and competition.

Jazz

Dynamic, fun, and empowering. A popular choice for dancers of all ages and skill levels, with a freedom all its own.

Competition Teams

Structured, rigorous preparation for dedicated dancers ready to perform at regional and national levels. Discipline and heart are in equal measure.

Open Genre Adult Classes

Open to all. Whether you danced as a child and want to return or have never set foot in a studio, you are completely welcome. No experience required, ever.

How Our Curriculum is Structured

No Right Age to Start Dancing

There is no right age to start dancing, and there is certainly no prior experience required. Our syllabus is structured to grow alongside every dancer, from their very first steps through to pre-professional training. Our classes are designed to meet each student at their stage of development:

Adult classes are available at our Brackenfell, Durbanville, and Val de Vie (Paarl) studios. Whether you danced as a child and want to return to it, or you are stepping into a studio for the very first time, you are completely welcome here.

Four Studios. One Standard

A Dance Family Across the Western Cape

We now host a dance family across the Western Cape from four carefully chosen locations. The programme is the same at each one. The teaching standard is consistent. The warmth is universal. Whichever studio is closest to your home is simply your Studio One.

DIE ATELJEE STUDIO
Springbokpark, Brackenfell · Northern Suburbs
OHM STUDIO
D’urbanvale, Durbanville · Northern Suburbs
THE YARD CENTRE
Val de Vie Estate, Paarl · Cape Winelands
LA BRI STUDIO
Robertsvlei, Franschhoek · Cape Winelands

Our classes run from age two through to adult, covering every level from creative movement and play to pre-professional training and competition preparation. Whether you are looking for ballet classes in Brackenfell, a hip-hop programme in Durbanville, or adult contemporary classes in the Winelands, we have a studio, a class, and a teacher waiting for you.

Our Online Store

Introducing SODA: Studio One’s Own Apparel Range

We want to address something that often comes up with new families, frequently during the very first visit. A parent watches her daughter’s trial class. The child wears a cotton T-shirt and leggings, perfectly fine for a first class. But by the end of the session, she sees the other students in their leotards and wrap skirts and asks, quietly, where to get those.

For a long time, the answer was complicated. Good dancewear in Cape Town is either expensive, hard to find, or both. Parents were driving to specialist stores, ordering online from overseas, or making do with whatever was available locally. It wasn’t good enough for a studio that asks as much of its students as Studio One does.

So we built our own range.

“The right outfit doesn’t just look the part; it helps a dancer feel ready. There’s something that shifts when a child puts on a leotard for the first time. She stands differently. She walks into the studio differently.”

SODA: Designed for Studio One Students, Available to Everyone.

SODA is Studio One Dance Academy’s own apparel and accessories label. It is a purpose-built range crafted from quality cotton lycra and lycra fabrics that move with the body through every style we teach. Every piece is sized from toddler through to adult. Every price is deliberately within reach (approximately R150 to R450), because dancewear that works shouldn’t be a luxury.

This is not a concession stand. SODA has been developed with the same seriousness we bring to the curriculum: the right fabrics, the right cuts, tested in actual classes by actual students. If it’s in the range, it earns its place.

What’s in the Collection?

Every SODA piece is available online at our store with secure checkout via YOCO. Once your order is packed, we’ll be in touch, and you can collect it in person at whichever of our four studios is most convenient: Brackenfell, Durbanville, Paarl, or Franschhoek. Prices vary based on size and material. Sizing is available from toddler (2–3) through to adult. Available now.

What’s Next

Regular Updates to This Blog and Store

This blog (and store) will be updated regularly. Expect studio news, dancer spotlights, competition results, and honest advice for dance parents—the kind we wish someone had given us at the beginning. You’ll also find behind-the-scenes glimpses from life across four studios in one of the most beautiful corners of South Africa.

For now, explore the new website. Browse the SODA store or the timetable. Read about the classes. If something here resonates with you, if you find yourself picturing your child at the barre, or quietly thinking about a class for yourself, reach out. We offer a free trial at every studio. No commitment. No experience required. Just come and see.

“We’ve watched students arrive barely making eye contact, too nervous to move freely. Over the weeks and months, we’ve watched them bloom. The change isn’t just physical. It’s emotional. It’s social. A child who finds her confidence in a dance studio carries that confidence into every other room she enters: the classroom, the playground, the audition, the interview, and throughout life. That is the Studio One philosophy in practice.”