Coupé Theatre Studio Students Accepted to Prestigious Summer Intensives

Though COVID put a damper on arts education from an in-person perspective, one Rockland County dance studio defied the hardship. Like many extracurricular programs, Coupé Theatre Studio pivoted when things shut down and began offering its dance, voice, and performance classes virtually throughout the past year. The dedication of the Coupé teachers and students' during the pandemic is not only admirable, it paid off.

Despite not having in-person classes for the majority of the pandemic, Coupé students continue to make waves in national performance circles, as many have been accepted into prestigious summer intensive programs this year. These programs include the Boston Conservatory, Berklee Musical Theatre Program, School of American Ballet, Steps on Broadway, American Ballet Theater, and NYSSSA Modern Intensive.

And though they couldn’t have a live Nutcracker performance in 2020, the studio’s nonprofit dance company, Rockland Youth Dance Ensemble, produced a movie that families could watch together at home. “Creating a movie together was a new learning experience for the girls and gave everyone something to be excited about,” says Taylor Quesada, whose 10-year-old has been dancing at the studio for 7 years.

Quesada says she loves the program because it’s supportive of the dancers, and in the easing of COVID restrictions “the school was very transparent about safety protocols, even giving dancers individual ‘boxes’ to dance in."

Coupé Theatre Studio is a full-service dance studio that has been in the community for more than 50 years. Each class is taught by professional instructors who have degrees in dance and/or education as well as a performance background.