IN O UR COM M U N I T Y: ALU MNI
Taking
the Lead
Class of 2009 alumna
talks about her new
business – running her
childhood dance studio
When Madison Ellis Ellington ’09 wasn’t walking
the halls of Steward growing up, she was around
the corner dancing through the studios of West
End Academy of Dance in the Canterbury Shopping
Center. A dance student at West End from the age
of four through age eighteen, Mrs. Ellington has
always looked back fondly on her formative years
at the school. And as of June 2018, following her
heart has brought her full circle, back to West End
as the dance school’s new owner.
It wasn’t always clear that Mrs. Ellington would
wind up at West End. After dancing all through
college with a club dance group at the University
of Virginia, she moved back to Richmond and
accepted a corporate office job that left little
room for creativity. It wasn’t long before she found
herself drawn back to dance.
“I realized I missed that part of my life,” Mrs.
Ellington said. “So after a few years, I started
teaching at West End, first as a substitute teacher
and then full-time.”
After two years of teaching dance during the time
she wasn’t at the office, she noticed that her
favorite part of every week was coming to West
End. “The most rewarding moments for me,” she
said, “were, and still are, teaching a student who
has never taken a dance class before how to count
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The Colonnade
music, find a beat in a song, put dance moves to it,
and remember a routine. Then, suddenly, they’re
performing onstage and it’s like you helped to
transform them.”
So when West End’s owner at the time announced
that he was going back to graduate school and
selling the school, Mrs. Ellington knew she had to
make a big decision. “[Running my own studio] was
something I’d been thinking about for a while,” she
said. “This opportunity came up, and it was a once-
in-a-lifetime chance. I decided to go for it.”
With the enthusiastic support of her parents and
her now-husband, Trey, Mrs. Ellington bought West
End Academy of Dance in June of 2018. She feels
strongly about retaining the robust traditional
ballet program that West End has come to be
known for since it was founded over 40 years
ago by Mary Munroe. Mrs. Ellington credits West
End’s professional teachers for this quality of
training. She plans to maintain the judgment-free,
low-pressure environment while simultaneously
instilling strong technique and skill in the students.
In addition, she's committed to continuing to build
on the successful jazz, tap, modern, contemporary,
and hip-hop programs.
“When students graduate from our studio,” Mrs.
Ellington said, “they are extremely knowledgeable
dancers, and that’s something that I think is really
important.”
Mrs. Ellington also wants to maintain the culture
of a tight-knit community at the school. “Though
we have a large number of students,” she said, “it’s
always felt very homey, supportive, and comforting
here. I want to keep that true today.”
Reflecting on her own childhood memories of
West End, Mrs. Ellington recalls looking to older
dancers as role models for her own future. “During
our big recitals, I remember looking up to the older
students and aspiring to be like them one day.
That’s a big reason I always want to make sure that
our older dancers are being good role models for
our younger ones.”
As for her own future, Mrs. Ellington is excited to
continue the work that she feels she is meant to
do. “When thinking back to my time at Steward,
we were always encouraged to try new things, and
taught that failure is okay. Taking a chance on a
new endeavor is definitely scary, but what is life if
we don’t take chances? I feel so fortunate to have
had the opportunity to change career paths to
pursue a lifelong passion.”