About the studio
Count Eight is an independent, family-run dance studio in Kelowna. We teach ages 2 to adult in seven programs, with small classes and plain-words fees, and we have done it on the same street since 2016.
Why "Count Eight"
Every dance teacher counts the class in the same way: "five, six, seven, eight." The first four counts are getting ready. The eighth is the moment you move.
We named the studio after that last count because it is where the nerves stop and the dancing starts, for a two-year-old in Tiny Toes and for a forty-year-old in Adult Tap.
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2012
Marisol Vega rents a church hall two evenings a week and teaches ballet to eleven kids. The piano is out of tune; the floor is not sprung. Families come anyway.
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2016
Count Eight moves to Sutherland Avenue with one studio and a sprung floor. Hip hop and tap join ballet and jazz, and Jordan and Hannah join the faculty.
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2019
A second studio opens, along with the competition team and the first adult classes, started at the request of parents who were tired of sitting in the lobby.
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2026
Seven programs, six teachers and two studios. Still small classes, still one June show, still every fee printed in September.
What we believe
- Joy first If a dancer leaves happy, they come back. If they come back, they get good. In that order.
- Technique that lasts Small classes, real corrections and levels you move up when you are ready, not when a birthday says so.
- Every body welcome Every shape, every gender and every starting age. The dress code always has an option that feels right.
- Fees in plain words Tuition, costumes, the show and the team, all printed before you sign up. No surprise fee in May.
The space
Unit 4, 1580 Sutherland Ave, Kelowna. Five minutes from downtown, with families coming from Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland.
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Two sprung floors
Studio A (big enough for a full routine) and Studio B, both with a sprung floor and a dance surface on top.
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A lobby window
Watch every class from the lobby benches. The last class of each month is an open class.
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Change rooms
Two private change rooms and a washroom right beside the preschool studio.
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Step-free entry
Ground floor, step-free entrance and an accessible washroom.
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Parking
Free lot behind the building. It is tight from 4:45 to 5:15, so the side street helps.
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Water and quiet
A water fill station and a quiet homework corner for siblings who wait.
The people
Six teachers, a front desk team of two, and about a dozen teen assistants learning to teach.
Meet the faculty-
Marisol Vega
Founder and artistic director · since 2012
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Jordan Okafor
Hip hop and breaking · since 2016
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Hannah Lindqvist
Tap, jazz and musical theatre · since 2015
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Priya Raman
Preschool dance · since 2018
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Theo Marchand
Competition team director, lyrical and contemporary · since 2019
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Danielle Ross
Adult program lead · since 2020
Come and see the studio
Book a free trial, or drop by during front desk hours for a look around. The lobby window is always open for watching.