Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
| CULTURE<br />
Dancing<br />
Devotion<br />
TEXT BY ALEISA <strong>SC</strong>HAT | PHOTOS BY ALEISA <strong>SC</strong>HAT & SUBMITTED<br />
Sioux Center resident and longtime dance<br />
instructor Robin Van Es remembers when<br />
her young daughter, Kirbee, would escape the<br />
confines of her church pew and dance during the worship<br />
service.<br />
“She’s 28 now, but way back when Kirbee was 2 or 3,<br />
she would always dance during church, kind of in the<br />
aisle. And I thought, ‘Why don’t we dance in church?’”<br />
the 47-year-old Van Es said. “To me, who loves dance, it<br />
seemed to be the most logical expression of praise and<br />
worship.”<br />
Van Es founded Robin’s School of Dance in 1994 when<br />
she was still in high school, and over the years, her studio<br />
has grown, drawing students from across the region.<br />
The school offers classes in ballet, hip-hop, tap, jazz<br />
and contemporary, among other forms of dance, and is<br />
located at 16<strong>02</strong> First Ave. SW in Sioux Center. This year,<br />
Robin’s School of Dance will celebrate its 30th anniversary.<br />
Witnessing her daughter’s first tiny expressions of<br />
worship in church inspired Van Es to form a troupe of<br />
dancers that would learn a new lyrical worship routine<br />
each dance season and perform in area churches during<br />
Sunday worship services.<br />
SPRING 2<strong>02</strong>4 | <strong>SC</strong> MAGAZINE 31
Change language