Gate City dance school celebrates over four decades in the community

GATE CITY — Kim Jenkins started out teaching dance in the basement of her parent's house at 20 years old.Forty-two years later, Jenkins hasn't stopped teaching dance, but she now has a more permanent location in downtown Gate City. Located at 148 W Jackson St., Jenkins School of Dance has been a staple in the Gate City community for generations of dancers.Jenkins studied dance at Radford University, and she was mentored by Reece Toohey at Holloway Dance School in Kingsport before opening up her own studio."Since I was from Gate City, I always wanted to have something over here," said Jenkins. "I started out with 30 girls in my parent's basement and taught one evening and one Saturday, and then still taught in Kingsport. My single mom would do my laundry while I taught dance."This year she anticipates having 150 students. Jenkins School of Dance offers classes in tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, modern and tumbling for the younger students. Usually, her students start at three years old and attend up to finishing high school.Jenkins said she always had a heart for both dance and teaching, so opening a dance school was the best way to combine those two things."I always thought I wanted to be a school teacher, but I guess the deeper I got into dance, I started doing some assistant teaching," Jenkins said. "Then I was like, 'Oh, these two could go together.'"She explained how dancing does more for her students than developing performance skills — it develops life skills, confidence and coordination."You learn self-discipline, you learn to work together as a class," mentioned Jenkins. "Dance is not an individual thing, even though some people think it is. If there's a group activity, you have to learn to work together with that group."In the 42 years the school has been open, Jenkins said she has seen a lot of changes. Transitioning from cassette tapes to CD's and now digital music, her school's experience has evolved along with the times.She has also watched many students grow up along with the dance studio."It is neat because a lot of students that I have now are kids of students that I've had before," Jenkins said. "That's what we hope for, that it's always a positive experience."One thing she hopes will never change is making her school a safe haven for students."It's a place that no matter how yucky school might have been, this is a place that you come into and it's going to be a healthy place that you're going to be validated and encouraged," said Jenkins. "Everybody's not going to be a great dancer, but everybody can learn something and everybody can be lifted up."Her favorite part of the job is watching how her students grow. Watching the students change throughout their lives while in the studio makes Jenkins feel like they are partly her children."Whether that student's only here for a year, or maybe it's a little one who hid behind mom's leg and cried the first day, and then ends up going on stage at a recital and actually knows what she's doing," Jenkins said. "Or those that are here for a little bit longer period, to see them develop and change."With this year's classes starting soon, Jenkins is excited to keep the positive momentum from last year going. She hopes the community will continue to put their trust in the school's work, just as they have over the past four decades."I'm just looking forward to building on those successes," said Jenkins. "We've got some great older dancers coming back. It's always exciting to see what new things they're going to challenge each other to do."