Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Kelly.
Lauren, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Dance — and Music in Motion — have been part of my life for about as long as possible.
My mom, Darlene Davenport, founded Music in Motion in Virginia Beach in 1986. She was actually pregnant with me during the first annual performance of Children’s Dance Theatre and the Music in Motion Dance Company, so I sometimes joke that I was part of the studio before I was even born.
I started dancing at Music in Motion when I was three and grew up there, eventually progressing through our Junior and Senior Companies. After high school, I attended Shenandoah Conservatory, where I graduated with honors with a BFA in Performance & Choreography. From there, I moved to Philadelphia and spent about ten years dancing professionally. During that time, I also became a comprehensively certified Pilates instructor through Power Pilates.
I loved my professional career, and I think it was important for me to leave home, work in the industry and develop my own identity as a dancer and artist. But eventually, my path brought me back to Virginia Beach and to Music in Motion.
In 2016, I took over the studio from my mom and became its owner and artistic director. Taking over a family business is interesting because you aren’t starting with a blank page. I inherited something with 30 years of history, traditions, relationships and generations of families connected to it. My job wasn’t to recreate what my mom had built, but I also never wanted to lose what made it special. I had to figure out what Music in Motion looked like with me leading it.
Over the past ten years, that has meant evolving almost every part of the business while holding onto the sense of community at its center. We’ve expanded our programs and faculty, created more opportunities for recreational and competitive dancers, brought nationally recognized guest artists into our classrooms, grown our performance opportunities, and continued making community service an important part of what our dancers experience.
And now we’re entering another major chapter. After years of growth and reaching the limits of our existing space, we’re expanding Music in Motion to a second Virginia Beach location. It is the largest expansion I’ve undertaken since becoming the owner and gives us the opportunity to serve more families and continue evolving what we can offer.
I’m also raising three children, including a baby born this spring, which makes this particular chapter feel especially full-circle. I grew up inside the business my mother created, and now I’m raising my own family while figuring out what the next generation of Music in Motion will become.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of my first challenges was learning how to take ownership of something that already meant so much to so many people.
When I took over Music in Motion from my mom, the studio had already been part of the Virginia Beach community for 30 years. There were traditions worth protecting, families who had been with us for years, and a very clear identity that existed long before I became the owner. At the same time, I knew I couldn’t lead by simply trying to replicate my mom.
Finding the balance between honoring what came before me and being willing to change things has been an ongoing part of my leadership. I think you can deeply respect a business’s history without believing that everything has to stay the same.
Growth has brought a different set of challenges. There was a time when I could personally have my hands in almost every part of Music in Motion. As the studio grew, that stopped being possible. I’ve had to learn to build a leadership team, create better systems, delegate real responsibility and trust other people to care for something that is incredibly personal to me.
Our current expansion has pushed all of those lessons even further. Opening a second location requires a significant financial investment and an enormous amount of construction, planning, permitting and problem-solving — all while the existing studio continues operating every day.
I’ve also learned that there probably isn’t a magical stage of entrepreneurship where everything suddenly feels balanced. I’m raising three children while running and expanding the studio, and there are seasons when a lot is happening at once. I’ve become much better at deciding what truly requires my attention, surrounding myself with capable people, and accepting that growth is often uncomfortable while you’re in the middle of it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work has always centered around dance — first as a dancer and performer, then as a choreographer and teacher, and now primarily as an artistic director, educator and studio owner.
At Music in Motion, we work with dancers from their very first classes as toddlers through advanced pre-professional and competitive training. We offer ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, lyrical, acro and musical theater, but what matters most to me is creating an environment where there is more than one way to be a successful dancer.
Some of our students want intensive training and competition. Others love performing without competing. Some come once a week because dance is simply the thing that makes them happy. I don’t believe one of those experiences is inherently more valuable than another. Our responsibility is to meet dancers where they are while still providing thoughtful, age-appropriate instruction and opportunities to grow.
A big part of my creative work now is building those opportunities. Through Music in Motion and Children’s Dance Theatre, our nonprofit performance company, we’ve expanded our competitive and performance teams, community performances, choreography opportunities, guest artist experiences and leadership programs. We’ve been fortunate to bring professional artists with Broadway, concert dance and commercial experience into the studio so our dancers can learn from voices beyond their regular faculty.
Community service is also an important part of our work. Our dancers have used performances, fundraisers and collection drives to support organizations including CHKD, Ronald McDonald House, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, Roc Solid Foundation and others. I want our dancers to understand that being an artist isn’t only about what happens onstage — the arts can also be a way to participate in and contribute to your community.
After spending so much of my early career focused on my own development as a dancer and choreographer, I find that the most interesting creative work for me now is creating the environment in which other young artists get to discover who they are.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love gummy bears, cooking, going on walks and noticing what’s happening in nature, and pretty much every kind of weather. I’m happiest by the water, though.
I love any excuse to get my family and friends together. I also love a project — probably a little too much — and I’m happiest when I’m creating something, organizing something, or figuring out how to make something work better.
Dislikes? Olives, capers, construction delays, clutter, wasting time, and meetings that could have been emails. I’m also not particularly patient with “we’ve always done it this way” as a reason for doing anything.
Pricing:
- Toddler Classes: $85
- Pre-School Classes: $105
- Elementary-High School Classes: $115-$120
- Private Sessions: $72
- Rentals: $55
Contact Info:
- Website: https://musicinmotionva.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicinmotionva/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicInMotionDance/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@musicinmotion528
