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Queens Blvd Building Expands, to be new home for Sunnyside Ballet

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July 27, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan

The Sunnyside Ballet Studio, a thriving neighborhood ballet company that has been teaching children to dance for the past seven years, is moving from its current 46-01 Greenpoint Ave. location to a brand new studio three times its current size.

The new studio will be located on the top floor of 49-02 Queens Boulevard, a building that is currently undergoing major construction. The building is being expanded upward one floor, which will make room for the ballet company.

The new space will be on top of the existing four story building that includes a pharmacy and nutritional center.

Sunnyside Ballet Founder and Director Yasko Takeno-Williams said she will have two studios, one very large and one smaller, two bathrooms, and a dressing room, at the new venue.

It will be on the top floor of the building with all glass windows overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Though she does not know exactly when it will be finished, she hopes to begin using the new space sometime in the fall.

Takeno-Williams said that the studio she is in now is too small to accommodate the ever-growing number of students. Last year alone, she said, the studio had between 150 and 170 students, and she has seen steady growth each year since she opened its doors almost seven years ago.

Takeno-Williams said that her dancers are outgrowing the current space.

She recalled how some started dancing with her when they were only five years old, and are now 12 and need more space to move.

Sunnyside Ballet outgrew its first space at 40th Street and moved up Queens Boulevard to its current location at 46th Street/Greenpoint Ave location. Now it has outgrown its space again.

The studio will not only be expanding in size, but Takeno-Williams plans to expand the number and types of classes she offers as well.

Takeno-Williams and her staff currently offer 37 classes per week out of her single studio. With the new space making room for two studios, she plans to add more classes and provide greater flexibility in scheduling.

While the majority of classes offered will still be ballet, she also plans to offer tap, hip-hop, modern, and musical theater classes, and will add additional classes for very young students aged two and three.

Though the exact timing of when the new space will open is unclear, Takeno-Williams said that she is very excited to be able to offer more classes and expand the reach of the studio to even more hopeful young dancers.

For more information on Sunnyside Ballet Studio, click here

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El loco

Nice story and good for our neighborhood. I don’t want to read anymore stories about weirdos hugging squirrels and crying themselves to sleep. Sorry Rick. You can hit the dislike button all you want!

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