Feature Story & Photos By Larry H. Oskin
Full Force Dance Academy (FFDA) recently held its grand opening and the South Lake Chamber of Commerce (SLCC) hosted a ribbon-cutting to welcome owner Paige Grimes to the business community. Family, friends, South Lake Chamber Ambassadors along with its president, David Colby and local dignitaries including Clermont Mayor Tim Murry, Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks, Vice Mayor of Minneola Pam Serviss, participated in the celebration. Dance demonstrations, refreshments, door prizes, and fun networking made for a great day of celebration.
Paige Grimes, the dance studio owner, choreographer, director, and lead dance instructor, began dancing at the age of 11 and started assisting instructors at the age of 13. That’s when her love to teach and choreograph began.
While in high school, she choreographed dance trio performances in her junior and senior years. The dances were performed in the school talent shows. With those dances, she placed first and won the People’s Choice Award in her junior year and the People’s Choice Award in her senior year. She graduated from Lake Minneola High School in July 2020. At 19, she is currently attending Florida Southern College with a major in business and a minor in dance. She founded FFDA in 2020 with the hope of creating a family environment for students to be able to learn the art of dance.
She completed the Valencia Summer Dance Institute in July 2019. She was nominated for Student Choreographer of the Year in March 2019 from Headliners Dance Competition.
Paige Grimes notes, “We strive to help each person be the best dancer they can be and push them to their full potential. The most important thing to us is to make sure our dance studio has a family environment because we are a dance family. I believe dance is the heart of movement!”
Full Force Dance Academy: With help from her mother, father, family, and friends, they built and decorated a beautiful modern dance studio. FFDA offers multiple styles of dance classes for 3-year-olds to teens and adults, so there is something for everyone. The Academy provides both private and group lessons. On Tuesdays, Grimes offers toddler tap and ballet with secondary level jazz, tap and hip-hop as well as competition level team rehearsals. On Wednesdays, she offers secondary ballet, lyrical dance, and acrobatics. Thursdays include toddler acrobatics, primary level ballet, lyrical dance, and acrobatics. On Fridays, they offer competitive team dance rehearsals, primary tap, jazz, hip-hop, and evening adult dance classes. On Saturdays, they offer toddler tap, ballet and acrobatics. Free donation-only workshop classes are offered on Thursday nights and Saturdays.
FFDA is offering a series of grand opening registration specials with strong discounts through the end of April. Grimes has plans to expand the classes by adding two more instructors next fall.
For more information and to register for classes, contact Paige Grimes at Full Force Academy located near Citrus Tower at 540 South US Highway 27, Unit B in Minneola, FL 34715. Call 352-432-3304 or email FFDAOffice@GMail.com.
Follow Full Force Dance Academy on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FFDA20/ and visit the website at www.FullForceDanceAcademy.com/.
