Let's Dance studio has kept their students moving for nearly 20 years, but recently the studio as a whole has been making some commotion as well.

With their move from the basement of owner Jenny Samuelson's parents to their current 7,000-square-foot studio, the dancers are making a name for themselves on the local and national level.

"We started with just jazz - beginner to advanced all combined - and now we offer a variety of styles from jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop, pre-dance, ballroom and dance teams," Samuelson said.

As you walk into the new studio, which the company moved to in 2007, there is a display of trophies. The trophies represent the success that Let's Dance students have had in the past years. The studio won a sweepstakes award at a regional dance competition in May. This means they were the highest ranked studio.

"Every one of our age groups walked away with a first-place trophy of some kind," Samuelson said.

In June, Let's Dance studio represented North Dakota at a national competition along with 40 other studios. They did not come home empty handed, but as national champions. This was not the first time that Let's Dance was nationally acclaimed, but the third time they were awarded with first-place trophies.

"Everyone seems to shine in the spotlight here," she said.

Let's Dance studio offers hip-hop, ballroom, salsa, tumbling, vocal, acting, drill team, dance team, tap, jazz, ballet and a pre-dance program for children ages 3-5.

They created this program from scratch. The program incorporates props such as streamers, crowns and wands, and stories, like "Skippy the Squirrel" to teach skipping, to make dancing fun for children. The little dancers even use flower mats to do their stretching.

"We wanted to create a program that would combine creative movement along with the basics of dance," she said.

Four hundred and fifty students make Let's Dance the largest dance studio in the state, Samuelson said.

"I really feel that the secret to that success is that we try to accommodate all ages," she said.

This year, they are lucky to have a returning teacher, Temuuzkin Bold, and new teacher Victoria Luchkina. Bold is an experienced ballet dancer formerly of the Moscow Ballet, and Luchkina is a teacher at Let's Dance and is still a dancer with the Moscow Ballet.

"Students have told us before that he (Bold) is their favorite teacher," Samuelson said. "He works them hard, but he is fair."

This year, the studio will be performing the "Christmas Carol: The Dance" at the Belle Mehus on Dec. 5-7. Samuelson credits the studio's first "Christmas Carol: The Dance" performance in 1999 as transforming them into a professional studio. The performance is not merely a ballet but a variety of dancing, from ballet to hip-hop with music ranging from classical to modern.

The recent success of Let's Dance Studio has only further motivated the teachers and students to master the art of movement.

(Kay Kemmet can be reached at 250-8260 or at kay.kemmet@;bisamrcktribune.com.)