By Valerie Sliker, courtesty Wagener Monthly
Southern Starz Performing Arts Studio, 132 Lee Street North, had a soft opening in May, offering free shag dance lessons in preparation for the shag dance contest that was held at the Wagons to Wagener Festival on May 21, 2016. Owner Melissa Berry plans to have an official grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony later this summer.
Southern Starz will offer a variety of classes, private lessons and instruction for shag, ballroom, tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, and line dancing, lyrical and musical theater, pageant, fashion modeling and etiquette, and adult fitness classes. With its mission statement, Southern Starz strives to be a place where children can learn to be successful leaders and everyone will “be inspired to reach for the stars no matter what challenges life brings.”
Melissa Berry has over 35 years in the entertainment industry. She has been in several national television commercials, performed with the Rockettes and several Off Broadway productions. She has held many prestigious pageant titles on the local, state, and national level. Melissa is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and has continued her training under numerous famous instructors including: Mia Michaels, Anne Reinking, and Mikhael Barishynokov. She is currently the Resident Choreographer at Onstage Productions. Her dancers have been SC State Dance Champions, featured performers at Walt Disney World and were chosen to dance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Wagener residents may recognize Berry’s name. Melissa’s father, the late Charles Berry, was a pastor at Rocky Grove Baptist Church in Salley when he and his wife Linda adopted Melissa. Most recently, he was an associate pastor at Old Lexington Baptist Church and a Chaplain at Lexington Medical Center. After a 3-month battle with cancer, Melissa’s father passed away in March of 2014.
By coming back to the Wagener Salley area, Melissa Berry has come full circle. She is a graduate of Lexington High School and a graduate of the American Music and Dramatic Academy in New York City. It was always her goal to go to New York, get the experience, then bring it back here to her southern roots. While she’s more of a city person, her passion is for the kids in a small community who need extracurricular activities. Learning dance, kids will also be learning life skills, confidence, team skills and discipline.
Southern Starz Performing Arts Studio will offer a few summer camps and some Friday night ballroom dancing classes. By Fall, Berry plans to have a full schedule with a large variety of 8-week workshops for fashion modeling, pageant coaching, and all types of dance. To register for classes, call 803.508.6280 or email [email protected].