SEBASTIAN — Michelle Ting couldn’t wait any longer, she had to sneak a peek. And what she saw brought back fond memories.
“It’s always good seeing him work with her,” she says while watching Andrew Currie give guidance to Ting’s daughter, Samantha, during a ballet pointe class.
Currie is a former professional Broadway dancer turned owner-director of the Dance Space studios in Sebastian and Vero Beach.
Samantha Ting started taking dance lessons at Dance Space when Currie opened the Sebastian studio in 2004. Now a 14-year-old eighth grader at Sebastian Middle School, Ting assists teacher Debbie Rea with the younger students as well as takes classes at both studios.
“Andrew and Miss Debbie are my best teachers,” Samantha says, still slightly breathless from dancing. “Andrew is extremely strict, but in a good way. He will make you perfect.”
That’s because Currie, 48, sees his past in the future of his students.
“I’ve had some really great teachers in my life, and that’s what I want for my students,” he says.
A Connecticut native, he was a gymnast in high school who also dabbled in musical theater. At age 16, he auditioned for the school’s production of “Grease” and met someone that would change his life forever.
“The show’s choreographer told me I just had to dance, which was the encouragement I needed,” Currie recalls.
With his mother’s support – and keys to the family car – he enrolled in classes at a dance studio 30 minutes from home.
“I was so addicted, I went four or five times a week, taking ballet, jazz, and tap,” he says.
Because of his late start enrolling in dance classes, Currie found himself learning alongside kids half his age. But he didn’t mind, he was learning the fundamentals of movement.
Six months later, he was able to excel to the advanced classes.
By the time he graduated from high school, the idea of becoming a professional dancer burned deep within his heart.
He immediately moved to Manhattan where he auditioned for and was accepted into the Tish School of the Arts at New York University. Within a year, he received his first professional dancing job for a film in Japan.
After the eight-week shoot, he returned to New York to attend Hunter College for three months before, at age 19, joining the cast of the touring Broadway production of “La Cage aux Folles” as a cagelle, or singer/dancer for more than two years.
He performed in “Cats” on tour in both Europe and the U.S., plus a Las Vegas run of the show. He also performed in the Broadway productions of “Miss Saigon”, “Starlight Express”, and “A Tribute to Angela Landsbury”.
“I was fortunate to have pretty consistent work from (age) 19 on through my 30s,” Currie says.
He also learned some valuable lessons along the way about dance and musical theater.
“I learned a lot from the people I worked with, pretty much by studying them and seeing their dedication, focus, and work ethic,” he says.
“Taking dance lessons as a child or teen is really great, because you can learn discipline and focus. However, you have to be extremely motivated and disciplined, and have a focused passion to be a professional dancer. “It takes drive,” he says.
“Above all else, you have to just live it. Dancing is hard work and it hurts. You are making your body do things it’s not made to do,” he laughs.
“But the reward is way worth it. There’s nothing like it,” he says.
Currie’s professional dancing career was sidelined by a torn ACL ligament.
He came to Florida to recoup, staying with his parents, who’d moved down a few years before. He would come to Sebastian and Vero Beach several times after getting well.
On one such visit he met the owner of Dance Space in Vero Beach, started giving a master class whenever he was in town and eventually bought the business.
Currie travels back to New York three or four times a year to study and keep in touch with fellow performers.
“I go up there to inspire myself and to get inspiration for my students. It’s a great place to learn new techniques and keep up with the latest trends in the dance industry,” he says.
Bringing his three decades’ worth of dance and musical theater to the classroom is priceless, says Debbie Rea, the main teacher in the Sebastian studio.
“He not only provides hands-on instruction to his students, but tells them and their parents what they can really expect if they decide to pursue a career in dance or musical theater,” she says. “Andrew has a dance technical ability that the kids really admire and appreciate.”
Samantha Ting agrees, adding that “he makes you feel creative and excited about what you can do as a dancer,” she says.
Michelle Ting is looking forward to the studios’ “Dance Space Spectacular” production coming up June 15 at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center saying, “Nobody puts on a show like Andrew puts on a show!”
For more information, visit www.dancespacevero.com.
