Jen X Academy: For the love of dance

Jennifer (Giordano) Flower started dance lessons when she was 3 years old and has never stopped dancing since.

Flower was born and raised in Ithaca until her family moved to Dryden when she started eighth grade. She is a 2001 Dryden High School graduate. Anyone can do the math to figure out just how long she has been dancing, but not everyone may know that she is the owner of Groton’s Jen X Academy of Dance (Jen X) at 106 W. South St.

While Flower was a good student, she was not involved in any after-school sports or extracurricular activities. Every spare moment of her life outside of the classroom was spent taking dance classes, helping to teach lessons in her later teen years and then finally opening her own dance studio in the summer of 2010.

Flower was fortunate to have been taught by Diane Bower Chiucci and the late Rosalie Bower Amoroso, who were both New York City Rockettes in the early ’60s before taking over their parents’ dance studio in the mid-’70s.

Margaret and Stanley Bower’s Bower School of Dance was established in 1935 in Ithaca until Diane and Rosalie “danced up to the plate” and renamed it the Ithaca Academy of Dance.

Flower took lessons in tap, jazz, ballet, acrobatics, hip-hop and lyrical dance at the academy until she aged out at 19, but she had started assisting in teaching when she turned 16.

“I did attend Tompkins Cortland Community College — [Tompkins Cortland] — and got my associates in liberal arts because I knew I needed to take something, but I also knew that I wanted to eventually do something with dance,” Flower said. “I never expected it to happen as early in my life as it did.”

Flower is very grateful for all she learned about dancing but also the things she learned when she was given the chance to help teach.

“I liked teaching a lot,” Flower said. “It taught me how to teach and get in tune with recognizing kids who needed extra help with learning things.”

During her years at Tompkins Cortland, 2004-06, Flower was also juggling two jobs — one at another local dance studio and the other as a counselor at the Ithaca Community Childcare Center (IC3) after-school program.

While at IC3, Flower said she “just couldn’t live without dance,” so she started teaching it to the girls in the after-school program. Before she knew it, her “class” had grown to about 20.

The directors of IC3 noticed how much the students were enjoying it, so they created a position for Flower to teach dance on a regular basis.

Realizing that going to school and balancing two jobs was a bit much for her, Flower sadly reduced down to just teaching at the dance studio until the summer of 2010 when the opportunity presented itself for her to open her own business in the space Jen X is still located in today behind the Groton Fitness Center.

Flower married her husband, Dennis Flower, in July 2010, who is a contractor by trade.

As Jen X flourished and grew its number of students, Jen knew she needed to do something about her space. Fortunately, Dennis came to the rescue and designed and built an addition, which solved the space problem and enhanced the studio at the same time.

Now 11 years into it, Jen is able to offer classes in every form of dance she learned through her own experience from September to May with a recital in June, and also offer summer dance camps in July and August.

Jen’s student population has increased not only in number but also in skill level, with many of her students competing in regional competitions throughout the season and in national competitions every other summer.

This past year, 20 Jen X students competed in Dance Xplosion, Celebration, Spirit of Dance, In10sity Dance, Star Power, Legacy, United States Tournament of Dance, Encore, Elite Dance Challenge, The Power of Dance, and Nexstar Nationals, with every student placing in overalls in every competition.

At Nexstar in Orlando, Florida, this summer, students Danica Barron, ViviAnn Hurd, Izabella Rogers, Cambryn Rothwell, Miranda Smith and Brihann Williams took first place for their lyrical group routine “What About Us.”

Jen has also added another instructor, Emillie Galeotti, who has danced at Jen X since the age of 3. She is a graduate of SUNY Brockport with a degree in childhood education.

Jen has come full circle in that she has some of her own high school students assisting in teaching.

Reagan Allen is a sophomore and has been at Jen X for six years. She plans to attend college, where she will major in speech therapy. Reagan will be assisting Galeotti in teaching the combo class this year.

Hope Jursickis is a junior and has been dancing for 11 years at Jen X and freshman Hailey Adams for 10. Both girls will be assisting Galeotti in the preschool program this season.

Jursickis plans to become an occupational therapist, and Adams plans on attending college to become an actor.

Lexi Canfield is a junior and has danced at Jen X since age 2. She plans to continue her dance career in college and will be teaching hip-hop classes on Thursday evenings

Classes at Jen X begin Sept. 8 starting at 4 or 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with private lessons offered evenings and on Saturdays. Find Jen X Academy of Dance on Facebook at facebook.com/JenXtremeTeam for a full schedule.

Students aged 2 and a half through 19 may register for classes even beyond the first week by calling (607) 898-2192 or by sending a private Facebook message to Jennifer Flower on Facebook.

“I always wanted to teach dance,” Jen said. “And I will continue until my body gives out!”

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or (607) 227-4922.

In brief:

Groton school taxes

By now, homeowners in the town of Groton should have received their Groton school tax bill, which should be mailed to TST BOCES, 555 Warren Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850, if paying by mail.

All in-person payments must be made at the Groton office of the First National Bank of Groton. Please bring your entire bill with you and pay with no penalty by Oct. 1. A 2% penalty will be added for payments made thereafter through Nov. 1.

Payments may be made by cash or check in the bank lobby Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. Payments made via the drive-up window may only be by check. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, or 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Help Scouts clean up Groton Trail

Please come and help the Scout troops clean and maintain the Groton Trail System on Sept. 18. Come in the morning and stay as long as you can from 9 a.m. to noon, or come in the afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. Meet at the pavilion in Sykes Park.

Many jobs are available to suit all ages and fitness levels. Sign up for two hours or more and stay for lunch (provided). Please bring a water bottle for everyone and tools you are able to bring from the list found on the sign-up page, and please label them so they come back to you. Sign up at signupgenius.com/go/4090c4fadaa2ea2f58-help1.