Open for Dancin’

Andria Nikoupolis-Weliky

It would take more than the Door County flood of 2014 to sink Andria Nikoupolis-Weliky’s dream of opening her own dance studio. The beautifully remodeled space at 4614 Harbor School Road in Egg Harbor was just days away from welcoming its first students when the torrential rains on Sept. 4 left three inches of standing water in Andria’s Dancin’ on the Door School of Dance.

Speedy work by J.A.R Builders replaced the dance floor and rebuilt the reception/dressing room area, and classes were delayed just a week.

Andria grew up in Green Bay. She began dance lessons at two and has never stopped. In high school, she was part of Wisconsin Ballet Theatre. Throughout her school years, she spent summers with her Greek grandparents in La Crosse, where the university held intensive residential dance workshops with such teachers as the late Alvin Ailey and Joseph Holmes. “It was an amazing opportunity – a buffet of different dance styles, theories, philosophies and history,” Andria says.

From ages 17 to 20, she taught for the Greater Green Bay YMCA, driving three nights a week to Oconto, Brillion and Shawano. Since 1992, she’s been a Door County resident. She began teaching classes for the local YMCA when they were located in back of the old Walkway Shops in Sister Bay. “I had 15 students when I started there,” she says, “and within a year or so my youth and adult classes had 70 enrolled.” She’s been a part of the dance program at the YMCA in Fish Creek since it opened.

With flood damage repaired, 50 to 60 students of all ages are enrolled in 20 classes in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, zumba and belly dancing. (“Belly dancing speaks to my soul,” Andria says. “Maybe it has something to do with my Greek heritage.”) She currently has three assistant teachers and hopes eventually to expand into adjoining space.

There have been a lot of requests for private lessons. A couple practicing for their first dance at their wedding reception left the studio just before this interview began. “I have a student who’s 80,” Andria says, “and will soon start Moms, Pops & Tots classes.

“I am so grateful to my parents and grandparents for supporting my passion. I want always to be involved with dance and to give that opportunity to others. I hope to be able to make dance available to all incomes with a sliding fee scale, scholarships or sponsorships.”

Andria’s daughter, Arianna, a freshman dance major at Macalester College in St. Paul, will be offering workshops at the studio when she’s home for the holidays. Her son, Nathan, a graduate of Lawrence University, is teaching math at an inner-city high school in Memphis as part of the Teach for America program. His former golf buddies in Door County held a recent fundraiser to help him start a golf program for his students. Andria’s life partner, artist Jennifer Aldrich, is also her partner in Dancin’ on the Door.

The dance studio’s number is 920.868.5089. The Youth Dance Season will run for 30 weeks from September to May, followed by a celebration recital. There will also be six six-week sessions during the year for a variety of classes open to all ages including tap, yoga, ballet, zumba, ballroom, barre fitness, hip hop, belly dance, as well as Moms, Pops & Tots classes. Other offerings include private lessons, workshops and a summer dance camp. For more information visit dancinonthedoor.com.