Moving to the music at Fusion Dance & Wellness

 

Marianne Blair-Cutler checks her dance shoes to make sure they’re fastened properly and pops a square of fabric, which matches her sky-blue dress perfectly, into instructor and dance partner Brenton Mitchell’s vest pocket. Minutes later, they are on the main performance dance floor at Fusion Dance and Wellness (formerly Edgett Dance), in front of an appreciative audience. They perform a quickstep to Sammy Davis Jr.’s “The Lady is a Tramp” and cover the entire dance floor to appreciative claps, whoops, and cheers. Marianne’s husband, Ron, films the two-minute whirling performance, and when they come off the dance floor, both dancers’ faces are suffused with delight.

 

From gym class to world class

The studio in its current incarnation is the dream-made-real of Brenton Mitchell, who began ballroom dancing in grade two with well-known instructor Evelyn Edgett.

“Evelyn travelled to schools around the city and taught during gym class,” says Brenton. “It was something fun and I was good at it, so I stuck with it.”

Brenton would go on to compete, ultimately garnering national and world awards, including placing seventh in the world at the 10-dance championships in Lintz, Austria. He also competed in the Blackpool Dance Championships in Blackpool, UK, which he calls the “Olympic games in the dance world”; and won the mirror ball trophy a few years back in “Dancing with the Stars at Sea” on a cruise ship with judges from the hit television show. While he doesn’t currently have a professional partner, he still competes in “pro-am” competitions as a professional, with amateur partners who are current students.

Several years ago, Evelyn’s daughter Jane was looking to sell her studio but continue teaching lessons. Brenton, who was then working, training and competing in Ontario, was keen to make sure social and competitive dancing in Atlantic Canada were not lost with the facility’s sale. He found a beautiful building in Bayers Lake to set up his studio, where with a team of instructors he could offer a thorough range of classes for all ages. The building and the business are dedicated to the
Edgetts, but Brenton has just renamed the studio Fusion Dance and Wellness, which represents the integration, combination and collaboration of dancing and wellness, and everything that both represent.

Fusion Dance and Wellness studio owner Brenton Mitchell performs a Viennese waltz with a new instructor from Ukraine, Yana.  

All ages, all styles

The dedication is working. With students ranging in age from four to 92, all enjoying both recreational and competitive international-style ballroom dancing, there is a steady stream of enthusiasts coming to learn standard ballroom dances like waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, and Latin dances, including the jive, cha cha, samba and paso doblé. Group classes cycle through all styles, while private sessions focus on whichever dance a student wishes to improve.

Along with his passion for dancing, Brenton has degrees in kinesiology and occupational therapy, and works as an occupational therapist in a teaching capacity at Dalhousie University. He also works as a clinician in the neurosurgery department at the Halifax Infirmary. Hence the addition of “wellness” to the studio’s name. “I’ve personally trained for almost 30 years to improve my own skill. That, combined with my knowledge of human anatomy and biomechanics, allows me to understand movement more deeply.” He is incorporating his passions and knowledge to create programming for different populations, including DanceABLE, a dance program for people with physical limitations.

The new studio space opened in February of 2020, and the first COVID-19 lockdown began in March, which was “very poor timing,” as Brenton observes.

“We did what we had to do to stay afloat.” He offered online classes, and when allowed, added private classes. In collaboration with Dance Nova Scotia, the studio was a leader in developing COVID-19 regulations, so they were always on the safe side, with small numbers and strict precautions. As the province returns to a new normal, more classes are offered and eager students are flocking to the dance floors.

During one private lesson, Brenton listens to John Lennon’s “Imagine” on repeat, explaining that he does this to help feel the music and what it tells him to do in the dance. With this love for music and for dance and for sharing it, it was a natural progression to teach, and he has the required teacher training through the National Dance Council of Canada.

 

Student perspectives

Marianne Blair-Cutler and her husband, Ron, a now-retired Anglican bishop, began lessons in 2012 when they saw an advertisement for a 10-week social dance class put on by Halifax Recreation. After that class was over, they tried several other teachers before settling with the original Edgett dance team, where there were classes that worked with their busy lives.           

“We learned quickly that you have to put in a lot of time in order to really learn,” says Ron Cutler. While still working, he found going to dance lessons a great way to spend time with Marianne, meet new people and be challenged with learning new steps. Since retiring, he and Marianne take private lessons as well as group classes, and Marianne is also training for dance competitions, where she partners with Brenton.

I ask Marianne what goes through her head when she is dancing.

“When learning a new step or routine, you’re very focused on the movement, the timing; but once you learn it and your body gets the muscle memory of the steps, it’s all about the sheer joy of your body moving in harmony with the music.”

She, Ron, and the other students I speak with have high praise for Brenton’s style of teaching, which is positive and encouraging. He whirls around the dance floor with students or fellow instructors, gently suggesting a move here or a position there.

Watching the students in classes and on their performance night, the joy is obvious, whether they’re studying their way through a foxtrot, whipping around to a tango, or doing an exquisite Viennese waltz. It strikes me that each performance is like a miniature film or story, and I’m fascinated by the emotions they stir.

              

No limitations

Cheryl Ewing comes into the main floor studio, sets up a few chairs and prepares music to play over the sound system. A few men and women enter, and take their seats around her. Cheryl, who has danced for years and is also the studio manager, begins leading them in warmup exercises to Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine.” Warmup completed, the DanceAble students begin working on dance steps from the security of their seats. The men in the class are fully mobile and do part of the dance standing with their seated female partners, to the catchy strains of “New York, New York." Brenton explains they developed this unique class to provide anyone with the opportunity to dance and move to the beat. Cheryl adds that dance has such a positive effect on physical and mental health and she and Brenton hope to expand the program.

Tuesdays are busy teaching days for Brenton, with several private classes followed by group classes at various levels. The first private class sees Diane working with Brenton on her samba routine for an upcoming performance night they are calling “Oscar Night in August.” Diane works on footwork first, then coordinates her hands, arms, and hips, puts it all together to dance all the way around the floor. A new instructor, Yana, is with Brenton today, who helps Diane work with her posture, giving her suggestions that make the dance look more polished.

Yana, her husband Alexandr, and their young son Roman arrived in Nova Scotia on June 6 after a three-week quarantine period in Toronto. Originally from Donetsk, Ukraine—where some of the worst of the Russian attacks have been happening—they managed to flee and safely arrived here, sponsored by Brenton.

“There are many Eastern European dancers in the ballroom world, as it is typically a part of their schooling and culture,” says Brenton. “My family and I were deeply affected by the happenings in Eastern Europe, and I had the opportunity to sponsor a family, so I took it.”

Just another positive story from the world of dance.

Next up is a private lesson for Marianne and Ron, working on their slow foxtrot, which is not the easy-peasy dance we were taught in high school physical education classes. There’s some complex footwork in it, and it’s gorgeous to watch as they practice. Following several more private sessions, the group classes begin, where students are working on the sultry samba.

Brenton is adamant that anyone can enjoy dancing. “No matter the age or ability, there is a spot for anyone to dance with us,” he says. “I do not believe there should be any limitations to engagement, meaning that if you want to do it, we will find a way for you to enjoy the gift of moving to music with us!”

Maybe I’ll try it. Someday.