Miss Marcia (Marcia Balasko DeVoe) grew up in Grand Blanc. As a child, she took dance lessons from Jean Hinote, the local dance teacher and after graduation she packed her bags and headed for the Big White Way, NYC and studied with Been Vereene, Anne Miller and Al Gilbert. She earned a spot as a Rockette and after all of that, she came back to Grand Blanc and opened up a local dance studio. During high school, I took dance classes from Miss Marcia and when our daughter, Sasha was old enough, she too was a student of Miss Marcia. What I loved most about Miss Marcia was the lessons she taught aside from dance. Like the value of money and that someone PAID for her students’ lessons. I handed her Sasha’s tuition once and she said, “Sasha needs to hand me the check so that she realizes that dance costs money. All students were to address her as Miss Marcia, to show respect. All dancers wore the same attire, pink tights and black leotards, as not to focus on the attire during practice, with hair pulled neatly back in a bun, but rather to focus on dance. The dress rehearsal and recital were all on the same day, a Sunday afternoon. We showed up at 1:00 at Whiting Auditorium for a run through and then at 3:00 the recital began. By 5:30, all was over and we were on to a Family Dinner (with the Riveras too) and Grandma Diane’s cake to celebrate the end of another great year. Marcia respected our time and money as one day for all meant a smaller recitals fee. Also, costumes were simple and inexpensive, usually a colorful leotard/bodysuit that had a tutu and accessories to be used for a ballet/tap/jazz dances. Miss Marcia’s student’s had the experience of the dance recital without it taking up an entire week or weekend. Miss Marcia was not for everyone, she was very no-nonsense and if you had a child who wanted to take dance to another level, or take dance several nights a week, you would have been best to go to a more extensive studio, but for a dance experience and the opportunity and time to play sports or be involved in other activities, her situation was perfect. There are so many lessons to be learned aside from the activity or sport a child participates in…Look for the Miss Marcia’s out there to teach those lessons…It’s a Great Day 🍎
