Every family has its own passions, quirks, and lifestyles. For the Juten family, that passion is studio dancing. Stacie Juten has been dancing since before she could sing her ABCs. In fact, her first dance lessons were in the same studio that one day, she herself would eventually own. In her youth, Stacie danced under the teachings of Joyce Torvund, a local dance studio owner at the time.
“I started demonstrating for her when I was 12 or 13 and assisted her for many years. By the time I was 18, I was teaching classes,” said Stacie.
Stacie graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1985 and decided to take some time off from dance to get married and start a family. After a couple years, Stacie returned to the studio and continued teaching forJoyce for the next 13 years.
Then, in the year 2000, Joyce decided to retire and hand over the reins of her studio to Stacie. After some convincing from her husband, Stacie bought the studio and renamed it Stacie Juten’s Duluth Dance Center.
“Actually, he’s the one that convinced me to do it. I knew I wanted to continue teaching and working with kids, but I didn’t know about taking on the huge responsibility of running a business and still having time for my family and kids,” said Stacie.
As the owner of the studio, Stacie felt that keeping good morals and age appropriate material for her students would result in a comfortable environment for the kids and their families.
“I like to keep our family values and age appropriate music and choreography. That’s kind of a big deal because nowadays, pretty much anything can go at a very young age and I love having children enjoy being their age, and not worrying about acting older than they are,” said Stacie.
Not only does Stacie enjoy maintaining family values at her studio, she also enjoys her own family’s involvement in the everyday upkeep of running a business. Her husband and their 4 children have all done their part in making sure the family business is well maintained and running smoothly.“My daughter, Alicia, is now the manager, so she deals with the business side of things; the bills, the dance shop, and talking with parents. My husband gets involved with the taxes this time of year, and my three boys have also helped in different ways over the years,” said Stacie.
Besides her immediate family, Stacie’s niece and some of the Juten’s close family friends are also involved with the studio. However, many of the studio’s dance teachers are previous students as well. Side-by-side, Stacie and her daughter Alicia have together managed to keep the studio organized, relaxed, and fun.
“It’s very nice having her; it’s comfortable. She can probably know what I’m thinking; I don’t even have to say it, I can just look at her. It’s very special,” said Stacie.
Alicia graduated from Duluth East High School in 2011. Like her mother, she has been a dancer all her life. While she was in high school Alicia began assistant teaching for Stacie at the studio, and eventually she started teaching classes alone.
“I’ve taken early childhood classes, so I use a lot of what I learned there when I’m teaching. But for the most part, I go off of what I’ve learned from my mom over the years,” said Alicia.
Nowadays, Alicia has taken a step back from the teaching aspect of the dance studio to focus solely on the business side of things.
“She keeps our classes organized, and especially around recital time she helps with the order and sequence of the dances, the people coming and going, on right stage, off left stage. She was the backstage manager, and that’s huge to be able to coordinate everybody,” said Stacie.
The close-knit relationships within the Juten family have been emphasized by their shared dedication and commitment to the studio’s success.
“I think when kids graduate high school and leave for college they grow further and further away from their family. Me and mom have really never had a day apart,” said Alicia.
Next year will mark 15 years since the opening of the studio, and although Alicia intends to continue working with her mom, her future goals have shifted to becoming a wedding planner working within Duluth.
“I never really had any plans to leave Duluth. Maybe it’s because I’ve kind of grew up with the studio but I could never imagine leaving. I don’t think I could do that,” said Alicia.
The Juten’s plan to continue preserving the family values at the studio, while also keeping up to date with the latest dance crazes to teach their students.