The Shadow
BY LARRY O’ROURKE
Staff Writer
It’s a feat 25 years in the making for Garlynda’s Fancy Feet.
Garlynda Haynes opened her Clifton Forge dance studio in September 1986, and this week she marked 25 years since her first dance recital that was held on April 11, 1987.
To illustrate how things have come full circle for Haynes, her daughter, Giaynna Adair, was born on April 12, 1987, a day after that recital.
Now 25 years later, Giaynna is assisting her mother in the studio, taking over two dance classes last year.
“I always loved to dance,” said Garlynda, recalling her decision to open Fancy Feet over 25 years ago. “I felt I had something to offer to the kids.”
The mid-80s were a hectic time for Haynes. Her son, Gavin, was born in January 1986 while Garlynda was working for Backstage Dance Academy. That summer, she and her husband, Grady, decided that she would open her own dance studio, hence the inception of Garlynda’s Fancy Feet.
The birth of Gavin and the birth of Garlynda’s Fancy Feet coincided somewhat, and an outline of Gavin’s tiny feet was used in her first logo.
Garlynda originally opened in the old icehouse behind the Clifton Forge Courthouse, now Town Hall, and she was there for two years. Fancy Feet then moved to the Alleghany Building, and then to the old Snead building at 500 E. Main Street, her location since 1993.
Haynes estimates that she has trained 2,000 to 3,000 tiny dancers from ages 3 to 20 in the last 25 years, but she concedes, “It’s probably more than that.”
She now averages 115 to 120 students per year, and she taught every class until Giaynna assumed some of the duties last year.
Handing at least a portion of the duties to her daughter was a no-brainer, Garlynda said.
“She’s been dancing since she could walk,” Garlynda recalled.
Garlynda trained under Wanda Meeks in Covington for 13 years, and she took a few courses in Roanoke.
She is a 1978 graduate of Alleghany County High School, and she received a degree in recreation from Radford University in 1982.
While dance instruction is first and foremost for Haynes, she also helps her young dancers develop other character traits.
“I tell them it’s not always about dance,” she said. “It’s building self-esteem, confidence and stage presence.”
Several of her students have pursued dancing after their time at Fancy Feet.
One of Garlynda’s students went on to dance at N.C. State, while another danced on the Roanoke College team.
Giaynna danced at Radford University, while Doina’ Jeter is a current member of the Radford team.
Former student Megan McCormack is performing for a modern dance company in California.
While several of her dancers have continued their careers post-Fancy Feet, Garlynda makes sure her current troupe gets exposure in other areas.
Her dancers have competed in distant locales such as Myrtle Beach, S.C., Greensboro, N.C., Charleston, W.Va. and Virginia Beach.
“We go somewhere every year,” Garlynda explained.
Fancy Feet dancers have already participated in two competitions this year. Plus, they will be traveling to Roanoke later this month and then to Myrtle Beach in July.
“They’re getting exposure this year,” she said. “We may not be the best, but we are who we are from a very small town, and we’re very proud of that.”
Garlynda credits her family for helping to get her started.
Her father, the late Garland Altizer, assisted her around the studio in many ways, while her mother, Ruth, remains an influential presence today. She also credits her in-laws, the late Carl and Ruth Haynes, for their influence on her career.
“Grady’s mom had a big hand in getting me started,” she recalled.
Outside the family but nonetheless a close friend, Stephanie Burnette Persinger helped Garlynda for over 20 years. The two have enjoyed a friendship since childhood.
Now 25 years removed from that first recital held at Alleghany’s Hodnett Hall with 150 children performing to the theme, “Turnout for Dance,” Garlynda is making plans for this year’s recital.
“Footloose with Fancy Feet: 25 Years of Dance” will be held May 18-19 at Covington High School’s Curfman Hall.
Of course, this year’s recital carries an added significance for Garlynda.
As part of this year’s milestone, she is trying to contact as many former dancers as possible. To reach Garlynda, email her at paige59@aol.com, call her at 862-0216 or reach her on Facebook.
She is attempting to gather information from former students about their fondest memories at Fancy Feet, and she hopes to compile a booklet that contains these memories.
Also for those former students who can attend this year’s annual recital, there will be receptions prior to each night’s performance.
“I’m excited about 25 years of dance and getting in contact with as many dancers and moms as possible,” she said.
Compiling these memories will be special for not only Garlynda but also for her former students, because developing long-term friendships is another by-product of Garlynda’s Fancy Feet.
“You have your ups and downs,” she said. “I’m now getting the children of the girls I taught. If my walls could talk, there would be so many stories to tell.”
With 25 years behind her, “Miss Garlynda,” as she’s affectionately called by her students, is looking to the future while she fondly remembers the past.
“Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can do this,” she said, “but when I look into the eyes of the ‘babies,’ it’s all worth it.”
