Dancing with soul & morals
By Alyssa Christianson
In an era where many performers are grinding their

hips and exposing too much skin, one local dance teacher is focusing efforts on her Christian dance studio.

Ashby resident Karen Brown is the founder of Dance Revelations, a studio that she says is bringing soul and movement closer together than ever.

"I teach dance on the ideas of love, kindness and forgiveness, which are the basis of any religion, not just Christianity," Brown said.

She considers the difference between her dance studio and some others is that she teaches the ideas of modesty and appropriateness.

"The dancers still look good, but there isn't any sexual content in the dances," Brown said, "They don't need to be exposing themselves to look good."

The studio's founder says she received her inspiration to start the studio from God and she's not afraid to admit it, but that she isn't there to preach anyone.

"I love to teach and spread God's word through dance, but I'm not here to whip out my Bible and give a sermon," she said. "I teach the way God wants me to teach."

Dancers at the studio do not need to be Christian and many are not, she said.

Brown teaches a variety of styles of dancing from ballet, including Pointe, to tap as well as jazz and modern. She said that hip-hop, a style of dance she also teaches, is the most popular class among her students.

"The influence of MTV and VH1 on television gets the dancers into it, but they don't have to be like Britney Spears or Shakira to dance well," Brown said.

Although most of her dancers are girls, several boys have participated in Brown's dance programs, including her 12year-old son.

"There were five boys last year, but they fluctuate because of sports and other activities," she said.

The studio is located at Brown's home, which she says makes for a more comfortable atmosphere. She holds classes Monday through Friday for nearly all ages. She teaches students starting children starting at 3-years-old through adults. Her oldest student right now is 26.

Brown's dancers also attend competitions throughout the fall to mid-spring. There are usually two to four competitions a year. Brown's dancers attend the competitions as a Christian group and are usually up against secular dance groups.

"The judges see our group and enjoy them and it's because they aren't dancing just with their bodies, they dance from their hearts," she said.

She says that her groups compete so that she can show the students that in the real world they can be successful through their morality.

Dance Revelations used to be called Dance Down Under, which was short for Dance Down Under God, but Brown said it created confusion. People didn't really understand what her studio was all about until they came to visit.

"I decided this year to change the name because the name should make a statement and show I'm a Christian," Brown said.

Brown, 46, started dancing at the age of 3 - "like most little girls," she said.

She grew up in Framingham and danced for the Boston Ballet Company from 12-to-17-years-old after graduating from high school a year early.

She attended the University of Massachusetts, majored in dance earning a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in dance.

Her daughter now attends UMass and is also majoring in dance.

Brown and her daughter are the first two-generation dance majors in the school's dance major history, which began around 1970.

After college Brown danced in New York with an allblack dance company called Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

"I was the token Italian," she says reminiscing, "but I got incredible training from them."

Brown has taught dance for 25 years and has owned her own studio for about 24 years.

"The motto of my studio is 'let them praise his name with dancing'," Brown said. The quote is from the Psalm 149:3.

"It's most important when teaching to dance from within to not push the higher spirit onto the dancer," Brown said. "They feel it within themselves and are then able to give from within."

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Alyssa Christianson is a member of the Oakmont Regional High School Class of 2008. She resides in Ashburnham with her parents.