By Morgan Harvey
Intern

In the afterglow of 35 years of teaching children the natural rhythm of a ballerina, sewing last-minute costumes for nervous little girls preparing to perform and swelling with pride at her students’ accomplishments, Judy James, of James Dance Studio, is retiring.

“I’ve been teaching for 40 years but I've had this studio for 35, and it's time to pass it on to a younger generation, I think,” said James, who is known as “Miss Judy” and whose studio was at 19 Broadway in downtown Kissimmee. “I have loved every minute of my 35 years here but my daughter is having her first child and I’m going to be a grandma.”

Like many other dancers, James began dancing early in life. In her case, it was at the age of 3. While in college, she went to New York City, had a successful audition and began her professional career as a dancer. Although she never finished college, she knew that dancing was the one thing she was born to do.

“Dancing was absolutely in my blood. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” James said.

As her professional dancing career came to an end, James found herself in Kissimmee, following her now ex-husband back to his hometown and founding the James Dance Studio in 1974. When she first came into teaching, she admits that she didn’t think of it as anything more than passing on the dance steps, but soon came to learn that there was more to being a dance instructor.

After years of practicing plies and pirouettes in rooms lined with mirrors and little girls in leotards and ballet slippers, James said she came to understand that the students were teaching her, in turn.

In July, she will be heading to New York City to help her daughter with her first child and act as a nanny while her daughter, who works as a director for the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall, gets back to work. James will remain in New York until December when she plans to return to Kissimmee for an uncertain amount of time until she decides what to do in her retirement.

“I will be around … I’m not leaving the community for a while yet,” she said.

Even though she won’t be leaving the community immediately, James is selling the building where her studio was housed in downtown Kissimmee. Susan Stovall, one of her main faculty members with whom she has worked for almost seven years, is renaming the studio as Susan’s Danceworks and moving it to 948 E. Osceola Parkway. James said Stovall’s studio would be close enough to downtown Kissimmee to cater to students who had been enrolled at her studio.

“My main faculty is all going with her, so it really won’t change too much for our kids, which was my big thing – that when I left, I wanted to make sure that the kids were all going to have that continuity of education,” James said.

After 35 years of dance lessons and recitals, James said that the greatest thing she would miss would be her students. She also said she would not miss the strain on her body from dancing.

“I’m going to miss the people and the kids – I’m not going to miss the stress,” she said.

The studio’s last show was at the Osceola Performing Arts Center June 13. Summer classes begin July 1 at Susan’s Danceworks.