{"id":107172,"date":"2018-09-17T08:36:22","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T13:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=107172"},"modified":"2018-09-18T08:03:31","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T13:03:31","slug":"danceworks-students-learn-from-national-dance-guru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2018\/09\/17\/danceworks-students-learn-from-national-dance-guru\/","title":{"rendered":"National dance guru at VW dance studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

This past weekend, local dancers got a world-class dance education from Stepp Stewart, television personality, talented choreographer and producer, and dance-fitness guru from \u201cThe Dr. Oz Show\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dance guru Stepp Stewart works with local dancers he has selected for his \u201cBroadway Baby\u201d production at Kim Hohman\u2019s DanceWorks.<\/strong> photos by Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stewart was in Van Wert primarily to work with dancers selected for one of Stewart\u2019s productions, a musical revue called \u201cBroadway Baby\u201d, being held at the Porter Sanford II Performing Arts Center in Decatur, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, September 27-28.<\/p>\n

The session came about, in part, as the result of a decades-long friendship between Stewart and Kim Hohman, owner of the local DanceWorks dance studio.<\/p>\n

\u201cKim and I have known each other since 1996, when she and some students attended a Stepp With Me convention in Cleveland,\u201d Stewart said, adding, \u201cWe\u2019ve been friends ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hohman added that 1996 was also the year she opened her dance studio in Van Wert, more than 22 years ago.<\/p>\n

DanceWorks students also began attending — and winning awards at — Stewart\u2019s annual Dynamite National Talent Competition, while local students have also attended Stewart\u2019s dance camp — Camp Spotlight — in Georgia, and have been selected for other Stewart productions.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the friendship between Stewart and Hohman has deepened, with Hohman eventually asking the dancer, an Ohio native from Orrville who earned a degree from The Ohio State University, to come to her studio and teach master classes, which he has done several times.<\/p>\n

In fact, in addition to working with four local students — Kaden Hohman of Lincolnview, Finley Foster of Van Wert, Ellie Vining of Crestview, and Alanna Knebel of Delphos Jefferson — who Stewart selected to perform in his \u201cBroadway Baby\u201d production, Stewart also held master classes in music theatre at DanceWorks on Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Stepp Stewart and Kim Hohman smile for the camera at her studio on Sunday afternoon.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stewart said he feels it\u2019s very important for students to know a little about the history of dance, in addition to how to actually dance, because the dance industry is largely the same now as it was decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings really haven\u2019t changed much in the dance world,\u201d Stewart explained. \u201cYou still have to work hard, you still have to train, you still have to go through these people and these channels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart added that\u2019s also one reason why he still chooses dancers for his productions and \u201cThe Dr. Oz Show\u201d in person, rather than from a video, adding that it\u2019s because he really doesn\u2019t trust a video to represent the true capabilities of a dancer or the energy a performer brings to a live performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat may have been a good day for them, or the 17th take,\u201d Stewart said of a video.<\/p>\n

The Atlanta dance guru also provided some information about \u201cBroadway Baby\u201d, noting the dance revue would include traditional Broadway tunes, as well as tunes from some modern productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re doing songs from Peter Pan\u00a0<\/em>to Hamilton<\/em>, from The Wiz\u00a0<\/em>to The\u00a0<\/em>Wizard of Oz<\/em>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

More information about Stewart\u2019s many professional activities can be found on Twitter at #SteppWithMethesteppstewart.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor This past weekend, local dancers got a world-class dance education from Stepp Stewart, television personality, talented choreographer and producer, and dance-fitness guru from \u201cThe Dr. Oz Show\u201d. Stewart was in Van Wert primarily to work with dancers selected for one of Stewart\u2019s productions, a musical revue called \u201cBroadway Baby\u201d, being held at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 06:42:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}