North Bay Woman

12 NORTH BAY WOMAN S P R I N G | S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 It's Not Just DANCE By Pam Cook I magine a stage with 270 dancers, running on and off, from back- stage, 800 costumes, 28 ballet routines, 40 jazz, tap, contemporary and hip-hop numbers, and a woman who knows every step of every routine, every dancer's name, and every piece of every costume. That's Miss D, Deanna Masgay of Just Dance Academy in San Rafael. I sat through many dress rehearsals, watching in awe of how she calmly ran through each routine, with dancers as young as 5, and as old as high school. She would call girls out by name, "Do you have your tights?" "You have your tap shoes, right?" "Does anyone have an extra pink rose in their dance bag for … ?" She would stop routines to correct some- one, and work on formations, but always with the nicest tone. "I know I'm putting them on the spot and it could go either way. I know that how I speak to them could affect them for the rest of their life," Miss D says, as she recalls a bad experience with her kindergarten teacher. "I still think about that." Jenna Jones, Miss Jenna, is the assistant director of the studio. "I'll never forget what she said to me when I first started teaching," Jones said. "She said even though I may be teaching for many hours every day, many of those kids are only here for an hour or two each week, so it's their special time." For the dancers, Just Dance is a very special place. "The space Miss D created is a gift to us all," says Elaina Greenawalt, who like many girls, grew up at Just Dance Acade- my. She danced from the time she was 4, often spending more hours there than at home. "Miss D taught me how to be confi- dent, how to be kind, how to be expressive, and most important- ly, how to be the best version of myself." Masgay became Miss D as she worked her way through college at Sonoma State University, by teaching dance classes at the Corte Madera Recreation Center. "Kids kept signing up, and I had to keep adding classes, Hundreds of girls call San Rafael studio their second home, taking cues from Owner Deanna Masgay (left) and co-director Jenna Jones in front of Just Dance Academy in San Rafael. – Photo courtesy of Just Dance Academy. Miss D

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