Detroit's oldest dance academy celebrates 41 years with special performance this weekend

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Despite 41 years of activity and service in the community, there's a Detroit arts gem many still don't know about.
Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy, founded in 1984 by Kresge Artist Fellow Debra White-Hunt, has spent decades welcoming and nurturing dancers of all ages and experience levels and will present its annual student dance concert on Saturday, June 14.
The theme of this year's concert is 'Higher.'
'It's celebrating how we took this year to look at where we are, who we are, and think of what more we can do in this life, in this world,' said White-Hunt. ''Higher' was the word that came to me, so that's the word we have been working with all year, all the students and all the teachers: 'How can we go higher?' Each teacher or special guest that choreographs, they take that theme and make it their own.
'I have a beginning ballet class, and for them I'm using Stevie Wonder's 'Higher Ground.' And you know part of the lyrics say, 'Don't let nobody take you to a low level, keep on going until you reach higher ground.' The Acorn Society, a group of young dancers that we've seen some potential in — their music is 'Anxiety' by Doechii, and the thought behind that is letting go, reaching higher and letting anxiety go out. We have 38 dances; the dances aren't long, because we want to make sure they're complete. And sometimes, when you're younger, you're not ready to do a long dance, so they're short and sweet, and they keep moving.'
The concert will also feature a segment of daddy-daughter dance numbers. Set to the music of Michael Jackson, students from age 8 up through 'probably somewhere near 70' will dance with their fathers in celebration of Father's Day.
'That's a very special one for me,' said White-Hunt, 'because my dad was always in it with me. For many, many years, he was always the oldest student here — when he passed away in 2016, he was 95 and still dancing. I think that's where I get my longevity in dancing. He passed away in June, and the concert was in June. The other dads were devastated because they had bonded so much. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I decided to go on and be in the dance as if he were there, and we dedicated it to him and my father-in-law.'
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White-Hunt called the performance 'a labor of love.'
'We dance because we breathe,' she said. 'Our teachers are very passionate and dedicated to the legacy that we have started here. We have nine teachers, and seven of them grew up here. They went away to school and came back to continue to feed and grow the academy, and so for me and my husband, Bruce, it's very special to see them develop as young women and men, to bring forth the next generation of dancers.
'Sometimes, over the years, we've been so busy that I haven't really been able to smell our flowers. But one day, it hit me, (some students) were my age when they started, and now they're all grown up. So I believe that we are doing something really great for the community, and that was our vision and our mission, to establish something that last long beyond our years. We're in the fourth and fifth generations right now of students who've become teachers with us. A couple of the teachers have daughters and sons that are now old enough to take dance, and we welcome that because they are the ones that will be the next leaders."
Rochelle Riley, director of arts and culture for the city of Detroit, included White-Hunt in the city's Office of Arts, Culture & Entrepreneurship's (ACE) inaugural class of Detroit ACE honorees in 2022.
'If only Detroit knew what it has had in Debra White-Hunt and her founding of the Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy 41 years ago,' Riley said. 'Her dream-turned-reality-turned-training ground has birthed professional dancers, teachers, studio owners. While more than 15,000 students owe her a debt of thanks, Detroit owes one as well to the city's oldest, largest dance academy.'
The academy teaches students as young as age 2 and has no upper age limit. No dance background is required. To sign up for classes, go to detroitwindsordance.org, call 313-872-7200, or drop by in person at 3031 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 260, during open hours.
Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy will perform 'Higher' on Saturday, June 14, at 6 p.m. at Detroit School of the Arts, 123 Selden St. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at detroitwindsordance.org.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's oldest dance school marks 41 years with weekend performance