Louisville resident Keleese Toney, 17, celebrated the opening of her dance studio called “Dynamik Dancez” in Shively last month.
She fought back tears when she cut the ribbon at her studio, surrounded by friends, family and fellow dancers. The city declared Nov. 15 Dynamik Dancez Day in honor of Toney’s achievements.
“It really just felt like some sort of new beginning to my life,” Toney said.
She said her dance studio helped her pursue her lifelong dream: becoming a young entrepreneur.
Dancing has always been an outlet, Toney said. She wanted to open her own studio to provide a safe place for kids to dance.
“Since I was 7, I've been wanting to start dancing because I found passion in dancing, something where I can go and release my emotions, to enjoy myself, to have fun and to really just show everyone my abilities,” Toney said.
Toney started in hip-hop, then found other dance styles she loved, like majorette, she said. Majorette dancers often include cartwheels and flips in their routines, which are often performed during parades or with a marching band.
Toney was a co-captain of the Stingettes, one of the dance troupes in the Central High School marching band.
At 16, Toney graduated from Central early, and she said she had planned to rent out studio space to teach dance classes. That was until this July, when her dad helped her buy the building at 2304 Crums Lane to open her own studio.
Toney said she spelled “Dynamik” with a “K” in honor of her older brother Kristian, who died last year. Kristian’s 24th birthday would’ve been Nov. 16, the day after Dynamik Dancez’s grand opening.
Toney said her brother would have loved to see the business she created.
“It's just one of those very, very bittersweet moments for me,” she said. “He was always supporting me. [He was] very happy for me all the time.”
Toney teaches hip-hop, majorette, gymnastics and tumbling classes at different levels for kids starting at age 5. She also offers private lessons.
On top of her dance studio duties, Toney is a dance coach at Western Middle School and a nursing student at Galen College of Nursing, where she’s studying pediatrics.
Toney has a GoFundMe to raise money for her new studio, which she said is only the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey. She said she hopes to open more dance studios in different cities eventually to share her love of dance with others.
