They converted the 6,000-square-foot facility, which over the years housed a state liquor store, into the academy. They built three, glass-enclosed rehearsal rooms that are various sizes: 700-, 1,200- and 1,600-square-foot areas. The largest room allows the students to rehearse in an area the same size of the Dave Finkelman Auditorium stage, where performances are held at Miami University Middletown.
“It’s all about spacing,” said Goodman, who built the rooms.
Some of the wooden bars are the same ones that students used for decades while taking classes from DeWeese, they said. They also are mimicking some of the business philosophy that made DeWeese successful for more than 40 years.
“It’s a family feel from the time you walk through the front door until you leave,” Malicote said.
“It has to be fun,” her husband added.
The faculty includes 10 instructors, many of whom were taught by DeWeese. They teach 150 students, half Middletown residents. Because the academy is now located closer to Interstate 75, their student base has expanded into more distant cities, they said.
Classes begin for those 3 years old and continue throughout high school. Class placement is based on both age and skill level, they said.
The fall session, which consists of four, eight-week terms, has begun and will be followed by six weeks in the summer, Malicote said.
Goodman said many of the learning techniques students are taught at the academy can be used in the classroom and in the real world. Students are taught proper etiquette and how to behave in a learning environment, he said.
“What’s important in life,” he said. “Lifestyle stuff.”
Malicote has been a teacher at the academy for the past seven years. She grew up studying with DeWeese and moved to New York City where she trained and performed with many national tours. That’s also where she met her husband, an accomplished figure skater.
Goodman coaches figure skating at Googin Ice Center on the Miami University campus and teaches the younger male students how to dance at the academy. His wife said boys are more comfortable being introduced to the sport by a male.
While DeWeese has moved into Mount Pleasant Retirement Home in Monroe, her influence is evident today at the academy, Malicote said.
She called DeWeese “an amazing lady” who had a “huge impact” on her life and career.
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