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American Fork • Stephanie Brucker needed a new spot to accommodate her growing dance studio. With 140 students, the basement of her Cedar Hills home was getting too crowded. "I was busting out of the seams in my basement," she said.
That led Brucker's company, The Dance Conservatory, to join music educator Caleb Chapman and the directors of On Broadway Music Theatre Academy under one roof, in what could be the first-of-its-kind after-school academy for students interested in three performing arts.
The school could be a boon for the rapidly expanding market of Utah children who want to be in future seasons of "Dancing With the Stars" or "American Idol."
Separately, the three companies already have children from 450 families enrolled in classes, but the expanded facility will be able to serve more students.
Dance, music and acting are the subjects at the new conservatory, which opened Nov. 5. (Among those in attendance for the opening was Gov. Gary Herbert, whose grandchildren are students of On Broadway owner and artistic director Mindy Robbins.)
The conservatory building is about 14,000 square feet, and will feature three dance studios — two of them with shock-absorbing marley floors — and two black box-style theaters, each seating 200. In addition, there's Leaf Shutter Studios, a full-service photography studio; Babymoon recording studios, owned by longtime Utah actor Marvin Payne; individual instruction rooms; break rooms; and plenty of room for collaboration.
The three artistic directors are already well-known locally.
Mindy Robbins will teach singing and acting for On Broadway. She started teaching voice lessons at 19, and most recently played Maria in "The Sound of Music" at Tuachan Amphitheatre. She graduated with a bachelor's of fine arts in music dance theatre from Brigham Young University, where she has taught voice lessons.
Stephanie Brucker, artistic director of The Dance Conservatory, has taught dance at American Fork High School and privately for 18 years. She received a degree in dance education from BYU.
Caleb Chapman began his music programs in 1999. As president of Caleb Chapman Music, he produces and directs more than 150 young musicians in nine elite ensembles, including the award-winning 23-member, high school-age Crescent Super Band. Chapman has earned three declarations from former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., and was named the 2011 "John LaPorta International Jazz Educator of the Year" by Berklee College of Music and the Jazz Education Network.
The three businesses were brought together by Mindy and Conor Robbins, who wanted to expand as the list of students waiting for voice lessons grew larger. The two purchased the stone-and-stucco building in August, and spent months recruiting Brucker and Chapman.
Brucker and Robbins accept students of all ages, while Chapman works only with musicians before they graduate from high school. But all three agree one of the goals of the new conservatory is to help students become triple threats — performers who can sing, dance and act.
Many students want to audition for high school or community plays, and some want to develop the well-rounded skills that will help them be considered for admissions to college fine arts programs. "We want them to be versatile," Robbins said.
Robbins said she "stalked" the Orem-based Chapman for months in order to get him involved. "Each academy has had success on its own," Chapman said. "We each have a track record."
Supplementing each artistic director are about 30 instructors, including several BYU instructors.
On top of everything, there's one more bonus for Brucker.
She gets her basement back.
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The Utah Conservatory of Performing Arts is located at 555 E. Main St., American Fork
More • To find out more about the conservatory, visit onbroadwayacademy.com, calebchapmanmusic.com or http://www.tdc-danceconservatory.com