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Jaimie Kopeck has loved performing for as long as she can remember.
Her mother signed her up for dance classes when she was a young child to harness that energy.
“I still remember being four years old, walking upstairs in my little tippy-tap shoes to take my first dance class,” she said. “I was just smiling when I left the class.”
Fast forward a few decades and Kopeck is helping other people smile. She’s the owner of Collective Studios Regina, an inclusive space that focuses on dancing and performing for adults.
The studio has been operating in Regina since 2022. It offers lessons in all levels and dance styles, including ballet, tap, jazz, country, burlesque, hip hop, salsa and more.
Meet the woman behind Collective Studios Regina, an inclusive dance space for adults. Jaimie Kopeck has a passion for dance, and she’s sharing it with others. (Produced by RC Equina in collaboration with the CBC Creator Network.)
Kopeck wants everyone to feel welcome, whether they are brand new to dance or if they are getting back into it after a few years away.
Anna Valimaki says she was nervous when she first started classes, but it’s been a lot of fun.
She says she thought at first that she might be too old to get involved.
“Can you teach a 60-year-old how to dance that’s never danced before?” Valimaki asks. “I was a little nervous, but it’s been so fun. The classes are amazing.”
Kaydence Otte was a competitive dancer when she was younger. She says she loved performing on stage and wanted to feel that energy rush again.
Otte says performing is a wonderful feeling.
“It’s scary, but when you’re on stage, it feels so good. And it’s hard to find somewhere like that once you’re 18-plus,” she said.
“Some of us literally seek that feeling of being on stage, and she’s given that to us.”
Instructor Eddy Alvaro agrees. He says a lot of adults worry about getting back into dance or trying it for the first time. But he says Collective Studios is welcoming to everyone.
“We always try to go at the pace of our students,” he said.
Kopeck says that’s the philosophy that guides her.
“I called it Collective Studios because I wanted it to be a place, not just for me, but for other people,” she said. “‘Collective’ to me is not just mine, it’s ours. It’s everyone’s.”
Besides classic dance training and regular showcase performances, Kopeck’s studio also allows participants to learn fun and nostalgic dance numbers, including iconic choreography from pop videos including ‘N Sync’s Bye Bye Bye and Taylor Swift’s Shake it off.
For Kopeck, it’s all about being a safe place where people can dance and feel good about it.
“The first few months we had been open, it felt like I had come back home,” she said. “Like I had been gone for a while, and then, I was home.”
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