Debbie Werbrouck School of Dance & Music 3466 Douglas Road, South Bend, IN 46635

"My daughter has been dancing at DWSD for 9 years. She loves the teachers, the friends she has made over the years, and the ability to learn many styles of dance. I have been very impressed with the strategies DWSD has used to keep my daughter safe during COVID. I feel feel safe sending her and am so happy that while so many things in her life are virtual right now she has the chance to physically go to dance class. Thank you DWSD for giving my daughter a wonderful dance experience!"

"DWSD is great! My daughter's teachers are talented and creative, they foster a wonderful environment of collaboration, and encourage all of the students to push themselves to be better dancers in a supportive and safe way. Thank you!!"

"Very well organized. My daughter took ballet, jazz, and tap classes there starting when she was three and loved the school and her teachers. She and my son were also students at the accompanying preschool, Academy Arts, and felt very much at home there. I recommend both the dance school and the preschool wholeheartedly."

"Debbie Werbrouck's School of Dance is not only a top notch dance and music school but also became and has remained a major positive place in my life. The faculty is top notch from the office staff to the teachers. They offer Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and Modern. DWSD offers growth opportunities which include a performing dance group, Christopher's Christmas as well as travel opportunities to dance overseas! DWSD is second to none!"

"I grew up dancing at Debbie Werbrouck's School of Dance (taking classes there from 4 years of age to 18 years). Until late middle school, dance was a hobby. It was fun, mentally stimulating, and kept me active. As a child with virtually no depth perception and therefore no ability to throw, catch, and kick, Debbie's gave me the opportunity to engage in a "team" activity that encouraged practice and and self-discipline without making me feel like I was responsible for a loss or like I had failed. Even as a young child, I was being taught so much more than just great technique. At Debbie Werbrouck's, I learned self and spatial awareness, critical thinking skills, and personal morale and manners. My mom still reminds me about the ways in which she saw my early dance training at Debbie's aid me outside of the studio. For example: my kindergarten report card read "Haley is a good cookie with good posture." and 14 out of my 26 letters in my Alphabet Autobiography had to do with the dance studio. The atmosphere at Debbie's, especially as I got older and began to take more classes, gave me a second family. The older students and junior company members were some of my biggest role models growing up. I watched them train at the studio, be accepted into great colleges or get professional dance work, and carry themselves very differently than most teenagers were apt to. They fulfilled the roles of older siblings by offering advice and care as student demonstrators and helpers at recitals and even went so far as to help with homework at the studio on Saturdays (3 classes on Saturdays plus Christopher's Christmas rehearsals). The instructors never failed to give individual attention. Julie Bodle (instructor and assistant director) was like a second mom to me and was a huge rock (along with Debbie and the rest of the faculty) when my parents divorced. Jaci Mullins is largely responsible for my personal successes in dance, spending extra time outside of classes to research and help me apply for summer intensives and college dance programs. ***I am now a year out of college and out of all of the times I've been able to visit home, there has only been maybe once or twice that I didn't make it by the studio to see my second family - and that's really only because it's a holiday and the studio is closed! Haha!*** Late middle school was when I decided that I wanted to pursue dance as a career and Debbie Werbrouck's School of Dance gave me every tool I needed to do it. In high school, I was spending 30+ hours dancing. I was the varsity captain of my school's dance team, serving at a restaurant, studying, training, and teaching at Debbie's and graduated 11th in my class. My parents' friends were questioning why they would let their "smart" daughter go to college to dance. My parents, as the amazing supporters they are, would say "you're right, she's smart, and we know she'll make things work." They knew that they (and Debbie's) instilled in me a sense of self-discipline that would enable me to do what I love and support myself. Now, after graduating in four years with a B.S in Kinesiology and Dance and a certificate in Journalism from Indiana University, we know that they were right. I am currently living in Chicago, dancing for three companies - one of which iI founded myself and is currently being incorporated, teaching dance for a University of Chicago Charter school, an after-school program, and Kenwood School of Ballet, and running educational programming for a third consecutive summer. I absolutely love what I do and am able to support myself (and even pay off student loans)! I know for a fact that I would not be where I am, as happy as I am, if it weren't for Debbie Werbrouck's School of Dance. I've seen as a dancer, a young woman, and an educator how useful dance education can be in a child's life. I've now taken class and taught for many different studios/programs in the midwest and in NYC and have never been a part of programming as well-rounded and professionally run as Debbie Werbrouck's School of Dance."