Photos courtesy of NS Studio.
NS Studio owners Shad and Natalie Simpson are pictured with their twins, Rosie and Will.
Natalie and Shad Simpson both began dancing in Birmingham studios at around 2 years old. The husband and wife duo now own NS Dance Studio, where they can share their love for dance with others.
After their young start, the Simpsons continued pursuing dance beyond high school, with Natalie becoming a member of the Auburn University Tiger Paws Dance Team and Shad dancing for the Magical World of Walt Disney.
“Dance was our lives,” Shad Simpson said.
With further performance successes under their belts, they both began teaching and choreographing dance, moved back to Birmingham and eventually opened a popular dance studio together. This is the 10th season of their original NS Studio, located on Grants Mill Road, and to celebrate, they opened their second location in Vestavia Hills.
In August, dance students are able to start taking classes at the new studio, located at 3242A Cahaba Heights Road.
Shad Simpson said throughout their ninth dance season they were in the process of looking for a prime spot to grow their reach.
Natalie Simpson said Cahaba Heights is a “happening spot right now,” adding they’re thrilled to get involved and be able to offer dance in the Vestavia community this fall.
NS Dance offers classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary dance, clogging, acrobatic arts and a few other select genres for ages 2 and up all the way through adults. At the new location in particular, Natalie Simpson said, they plan to make it very accessible for adults to swing in and take fitness or dance-centric classes between dropping the kids off at sports or other after-school programs.
“Our goal is to truly provide a fun atmosphere where everyone can come and feel comfortable and enjoy and learn, from your most basic dancer all the way to your most competitive dancer,” Natalie Simpson said.
A FAMILY
Shad Simpson said they love to get to know all of their dance students, as well as their families.
“You’re not just bringing your kid here to just take a dance class, … it really becomes a family,” he said. “We get to know these kids, and we love and care about them.”
Since Shad Simpson grew up with his family owning a dance studio, he’s known the business his whole life and knows how important it is for everyone to have a happy experience.
Shad Simpson added that the dance studio is like a safe haven for many students when other parts of their life get complicated.
“When they’re having a rough day, when boyfriend’s not right, when school’s hard, when they’re fighting with their mommy, they can come dance it out,” he said. “It’s an outlet.”
NS Dance serves both competition and company dancers, as well as people who are just looking to learn new skills and perform locally.
“That’s the thing, we have our kids here who are committed — it’s like travel ball, its competitive. Then we have our kids who just love coming and being with their friends and learning dances and getting some exercise, and they’re pretty good as well, but they don’t want to be here 24 hours a day,” Natalie Simpson said.
She added that their competitive dancers compete in regional and sometimes national competitions through the company and years of training. The students interested in competing have classes three or four times a week and rehearsals on weekends. At both NS Studio locations, though, they prioritize competitive and non-competitive students and train them with the same teachers.
“Our goal is to put our non-company kids on stage and give them the best of their ability to progress, whether they want to do company or not, and to have the same opportunities,” Natalie Simpson said.
Photo courtesy of NS Studio.
Dance classes were held at the original NS Dance Studio in Irondale.
THE CLASSES
The new location will be similar to their first location because they’re proud of the product they created, Natalie Simpson said. The studio will offer around 40 classes a week.
At the Cahaba Heights location, Shad Simpson said, they will probably not focus on company-level competitions in the first year while they get the studio up and running, unless they see major interest. They will divide their classes into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.
They also offer classes for preschoolers. Tap classes, they said, can be extremely popular for younger children.
“You have tap shoes. They’re making noise, hopefully with some form of rhythm to the music. … From a younger level, it’s an instant hit,” Shad Simpson said.
As the kids get older, tap gets more difficult, though, since it is focused on precision movement of their feet and requires excellent rhythm.
“Of course, everyone always loves jazz and the music in it, and then ballet is your core foundation of every genre spectrum. … The competition kids are required so much ballet, and as they get older, they learn to respect it more,” Natalie Simpson said.
For kids trying to dance competitively or try out for movement-oriented sports in middle and high school like dance and cheerleading, ballet is important to understand the fundamentals of body movement. Shad Simpson said it teaches people how to hold their bodies and use their muscles.
In the Southeast, hip hop and contemporary classes are particularly popular, they added.
“Hip hop is high energy, and whether you’re coordinated or just going with the vibe in the room, everybody’s just going with it,” Shad Simpson said, with Natalie adding that everyone has a lot of fun and tends to be cheering each other on.
For both contemporary dance and hip hop, ballet isn’t required to participate in the class, which appeals to a lot of first-time dancers.
Dance friends had stronger bonds for both Shad and Natalie Simpson than any other friendships growing up, and they love to see kids develop those lifelong friendships.
“It’s all about being a good sport, and you take away and learn from every experience,” Natalie Simpson said.
NS Studio generally takes enrollment all the way until December, depending on availability. Recitals for the new studio will take place at the BJCC in May. To learn more, go to nsdancestudio.com.
