Broadway Dance Center

Broadway Dance Center is a dance school located at 322 West 45th Street west of Times Square in New York City. It was founded in 1984 as one of the first "drop-in" dance training schools in the world, offering classes in jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, hip hop and theater. Dancers and performers such as Bette Midler, Brooke Shields, Jennifer Jones, Britney Spears, Madonna, *NSYNC, Camille Kostek, Jason Samuels Smith, and Elizabeth Berkley have taken class or rehearsed at the school with Broadway performers taking classes there daily.<ref name="New York"></ref><ref name="Dancer Universe"> </ref> History In New York City in the early 1980s, aspiring dancers primarily came to NYC to vie for the chance to dance on a Broadway stage. Choreographers like Michael Bennett, Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins were creating brilliance on stage, while teachers like Luigi, Charles Kelley, Jamie Rogers, Henry LeTang, Phil Black, David Howard and Frank Hatchett were preparing dancers to become the versatile technical performers needed by these great choreographers. Long-time New York City resident Richard Ellner took his first tap class at 52 years of age. He was a great fan of Broadway musicals, such as Dancin, Sophisticated Ladies, The Tap Dance Kid, and Cats. He was a business executive who fueled his love of the arts by taking jazz and tap classes. Ellner took his first jazz class with Francine Sama (aka Frankie Anne) when the studio site at 1733 Broadway was known as Jo Jo's Dance Factory. Ellner's desire to expand his training led him to the legendary jazz teacher Frank Hatchett at Hines-Hatchett. He later took on this location, newly named Hines & Hatchett, which was co-owned by Hatchett and Maurice Hines.