Le Studio Danse in Mansfield Making Waves

Valerie Brunetti-Spear, owner of Le Studio Danse in Mansfield, said she’s been dancing since she was a small child, and has seen some things throughout the years.

“I was always attracted to dance, I just love it,” she said. “I got serious about it in high school.”

Brunetti-Spear said she did ballet in high school as well as cheerleading, and studied dance at the Boston Conservatory of Music. Since then, she said she’s danced at the San Fransico Ballet Company. She said she’s worked with many instructors, including Mchael Jackson’s former teacher JoJo, as well as Baryshnikov, who instructed the U.S. Olympians.

“I’ve performed at all the local night clubs in New England, including the Wang Theater,” she said. “I also worked with the Cirque du Soleil.”

She added she has performed in two feature films, a movie called Witchboard, a horror movie about the Ouija Board and a Bruce Lee film.

“In the Bruce Lee film I hit someone over the head with a popcorn container,” she said. “That was my job and it was so much fun.”

Brunetti-Spear said she started the studio right out of college in Mansfield on Chauncy Street 28 years ago. She said she’s a lifelong resident of Mansfield.

She has since moved to North Main Street. She said she feels it is important to show a professional character to her students, so she takes them on field trips once a year.

“Every year I take them to New York to see a Broadway show and meet one of the performers for a question and answer session,” she said. “Now some of my students have been in music videos.”

She said many of her students have been involved with her since the beginning, and still come tot he studio.

“I’ve had kids from years old go through college and now they dance as my adult dancers,” she said. “I love them, I have the best students ever here.”

She added she feels the stress-free and noncompetitive nature of her studio brings a more cooperative and better environment for dancing and self-expression.

“Everyone’s on a different level here you know?” she said. “It’s all about positive motivation. A lot of people comment on the fact there’s no competition here.”

This year, she said the studio had a dance master from the show So You Think You Can Dance, and they’re hosting a major Hollywood motion picture at the studio.

“We’re doing the choreography for it,” she said. “It’s a psychological thriller about a dancer. They just started production this week. They held the casting call here as well for the dancers, and a lot of dancers from the studio got chosen. I can’t really say too much about it.”

Le Studio Danse is located on 184 North Main St.