Our vision is to provide the most professional instruction to children and adults in a family-friendly environment. In the classroom, our students are taught proper technique and skills in a safe, non-competitive environment that emphasizes classroom etiquette, perseverance, goal-setting and self-esteem. Outside the classroom, family values are embraced and promoted through activities and events that encourage families to have fun together through the arts!
We go to great lengths to bring highly qualified instructors to our little town in Southern Pennsylvania so that EMC families may have access to the culture that larger cities have to offer.
Your child will shine at EMC even if she/he doesn’t aspire to pursue a professional career in the arts. The lessons taught here will help mold your child into a responsible, hard-working, conscientious person who is bound to succeed regardless of the path they choose to follow.
Robin Snyder-Wiencek
Robin is the founder and director of EMC. She graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 1987 where she studied ballet extensively under Norma Pera. From there, she went on to Montclair State University in New Jersey and discovered improvisational dance and choreography. She supplemented her training by studying in New York at Steps and the Broadway Dance Center. She returned to Baltimore in 1990 to teach the Vaganova Method of classical ballet at the BSA and to continue pursuing a B.A. degree in Visual and Performing Arts at University of Maryland Baltimore County. Robin has been developing and implementing EMC in and around Baltimore since 1992. In 1999, she founded the professional modern dance company, The Collective, and in 2003 she expanded her studio and opened a second location in Southern Pennsylvania.
York Daily Record Interview, 2006
Loves kids' desires to learn
Type of work you do:
Simply stated, I run a dance studio. However, over the last two years we have expanded the concept of a dance studio into a full-service dance, art and gymnastics center where students receive lessons in goal-setting, perseverance and team-work.. I have recruited a very talented staff, who have helped me to realize my dream of providing an arts education encompassing technique, terminology, and art/dance history. It is also a place where students of all ages can feel a sense of belonging. The social structure here is very welcoming.
How long have you been doing this, and how did you get started?
This year marks EMC's 15th birthday. I founded EMC when I was 22 years old. At the time I was on staff at Baltimore School for the Arts and was pursuing my degree in visual and performing arts at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I had always known that I would run a dance studio one day, so when the opportunity to rent a small studio space fell into my lap, I just went for it.
How much time do you spend on your work?
I am at the studio 40-60 hours a week. When I'm not at the studio, I am thinking about the studio, talking about the studio and dreaming about the studio.
Do you work another job?
I raise my three boys, spend time with my husband and run the studio .. that is what I do.
What inspires your art, and what does it mean to you?
I am inspired by children and their desire to learn, create, and perform.
In what ways does your work touch others or influence the community?
To teach the art of dance, or gymnastics, or to develop a budding young artist, is the most rewarding job I can imagine. I have created a place where families love to be, where children are happy, learning, and expressing themselves. Parents appreciate the "life- lessons" that go along with this type of disciplined training.
Is it important to you to influence or touch others?
Touching or influencing others is the reason we do what we do at EMC. The children have grown so much and have so much pride in the technique they have developed ... and the parents appreciate the "life- lessons" that go along with this type of disciplined training.
