Allison Musante

By: centraljersey.com
PLAINSBORO – Robin Silverman-Krakowksi began taking dance lessons at Dance Spectrums in West Windsor when she was 9 years old. She later came to own that studio and has since built a small empire of studios in the area, including her most recent location in Plainsboro.
Dance Expo in the Plainsboro Village opened in September and has been gaining membership quickly, she said.
"There are no other dance studios in this town," she said. "This is a huge and growing community, and it seemed like a great place to set up a studio. The enrollment has been great and I’m looking forward to it growing in the coming year."
Ms. Silverman-Krakowksi has 22 years of experience in teaching dance. After graduating with dance backgrounds in jazz and modern dance from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts and the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, she began a teaching career at Dance Spectrums on Village Road in West Windsor.
She became the owner in 2005 and moved it to its new home in Plainsboro last year, under the name Dance Expo.
At her studios, seven instructors assist Ms. Silverman-Krakowksi in teaching more than a dozen forms of dance, including the traditional favorites of jazz, tap, ballet and Irish step dance, as well as the modern movements of Hip-Hop, Zumba and Bollywood dance and fitness.
Dancers setting their sights on Broadway careers may be interested in the musical theater lessons, which combine dance, voice exercises, singing, ear training, and acting through monologues. Other classes include yoga, dance tumbling, contemporary and cheer dance, which incorporates peppy dance styles from sports dance teams such as the Eagles and the 76ers.
A resident of Cranbury for the past 11 years, Ms. Silverman-Krakowksi also owns Dance Expo in East Windsor and Dance Network in Lawrenceville, both of which she acquired in the past several years.
Three seems to be the magic number for Ms. Silverman-Krakowksi, who said running multiple studios is difficult but rewarding work.
"At the moment I don’t have any long-term goals for adding more locations," she said. "Three is keeping me pretty busy for now. But I want to continue providing great dance and a fun place for kids to come and feel comfortable in the community."
She said owning and running her own studios was a dream since she was a child.
"I think I always knew that I wanted my own place," she said. "And it just worked out so nicely that after taking lessons at Dance Spectrums and I grew up, I took it over. Dance Spectrums has always been near and dear to my heart for that reason."
She is also setting goals for her studios to become part of their communities. At her Lawrenceville and East Windsor locations, she said the staff has been holding charitable food drives for Thanksgiving and Easter for the past few years. She said she plans to start the drives at the Plainsboro location this year.
The teaching philosophy is also important to fostering community togetherness, Ms. Silverman-Krakowksi said. She emphasized that Dance Expo is unlike other dance studios because "it is more than just a place where kids come to learn a dance. We pride ourselves not just on our fun choreography but also our unique, energetic styles of teaching dance technique. Our teachers work hard to instill the importance of self-esteem, friendship, and positive character development, and we believe that’s what makes our studio different from the rest."
Dance Expo is located at 4 Market St., suite 800 in the Plainsboro Village Center. For more information about classes and tuition, send e-mail to: [email protected].