 Q&A with Annie Warf, owner of Riverside Performing Arts
by Krissy Rowan, September 21, 2010
Q: Tell me about yourself.
A: I was born in Grants Pass, Oregon and when I was seven, my family moved to Vancouver. I started dancing really young. When I was three, my mom bought me tap shoes, but I never took classes until we moved to Vancouver. Dance is part of my heritage – my grandmother danced, my mom danced and of course, I dance. When we moved to Vancouver, my mom signed me up for a ballet class with Patty Militisch. I joined a performing group at Schell Dance Academy, and was a competition dancer from age nine to 19. I started teaching dance at the age of 16 and have never stopped.
Q: When did you decide to open a dance studio?
A: It wasn’t really planned out. My mother-in-law found the space and I went and looked at it and I decided to do it. The studio was located at 5th and Washington in Vancouver. My husband, father and mother, helped me renovate the space. After three long months of work, we officially opened up the dance studio in January 2007, with three students and now we have close to 200!
Q: You now incorporate music and acting classes, along with dance. How did this come to be?
A: Since I opened the studio in 2007, I knew I wanted to include music and acting along with dance. I am not a musician, so I hire a music teacher. The great thing about our teachers is that they are all experts in their field and perform outside the studio. There are eight great teachers here that specialize in different things, including yoga and salsa.
Q: Is your center what you envisioned in the beginning?
A: Yes. Our goal was to bring all these different art forms that all are relational to each other.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish next?
A: I want to have a youth performing company. We have such talented students and I want to give them the opportunity to perform in a traveling company, and do outreach into the schools. I hope to get that going within the next year.
Q: What are you most proud of?
A: That I started out with a tiny studio with three kids and we have grown into this huge space and have all these great kids to teach.
Q: Your family is really involved with supporting your business?
A: Yes, most definitely. Without my family’s support, I couldn’t have done it. My husband works from this space as well. He has a recording studio downstairs called Digital Guerrillas, where he records musicians and he is part of a band called 13 Cent Bob, which just released its first album.
Q: Do you see Vancouver as culturally vital?
A: Yes. Now I do. Growing up, I wouldn’t say that, but now I do. The downtown area now has art galleries, coffee shops, dance studios, and art shops. It is really great! It has come so far.
Q: Do you feel like Vancouver supports your business?
A: Most definitely. The Downtown Association has been a huge help providing us with performance opportunities along with advertising opportunities and letting people know that we are here and what we have to offer.
Q: How would you like to see Vancouver do in the future to support the arts?
A: We need a venue that is close to downtown and offers affordable rental space for performances, which is why I am excited to hear about the SW Washington Center for the Arts and the possibility of having a venue like this in our community.
Riverside Performing Arts Center is located at 1108 Main Street, in Vancouver. for more information, please visit their website.
Photography: Krissy Rowan © 2010 SWCA |
