Written By Ritsuki Miyazaki

Dance with your heart and feel the music at Motion Dance Studios in Valdosta.

Motion Dance Studios offers a wide variety of dances including Latin, ballroom, fitness, and hip hop.

Alvaro Leyva, studio owner and instructor, and Hannah Moore, instructor, have more than five years of experience as professional dancers.

According to Moore, Motion Dance Studios was named after their expression of dance.  Moore believes that everyone likes to express themselves through motion and movement.

“Dance is the way for me to put my feeling into movement,” Moore said.

Motion Dance Studios was originally opened in 2010 as a Latin dance studio.

The studio has given internship programs to VSU students for the past three years.

The program is offered to anyone, and even provides free training for those who want to become dance instructors. The program usually takes about two to three years depends on students’ pace.

There are hundreds of members from all ages on the roster. As the studio operates on a pay-as-you-go system, students can easily participate in classes without breaking their bank.

Amanda Crossley, an employee at Medical Equipment Company, has been a student at the studio for a year. She started without any dance experience and made her way up to an advanced class in Latin dancing.

“I really love the interns,” Crossley said. “I would have given up my first month of dancing if it wouldn’t have been for how encouraging they were.”

There is no qualification to become a dance instructor, but the studio is willing to intern someone who is teachable, has a good personality and able to stay in Valdosta for at least two years.

Gloriana Rivera, a VSU student, has been in the internship program for two years. Rivera is not a dance major, but her passion for dancing inspired her to sign up for the program.

“Teaching is what I enjoy the most,” Rivera said.

Rivera hopes to become a dance instructor in the future.

Information about their class schedules and fees can be found on motiondancestudios.com