Academy of Arts January's LLC

The Academy of Arts at January's has taught dance in West Virginia since 1986 under artistic and managing director January Wolfe, with a Charleston school opened that year and a Teays Valley school added in 2005. The Charleston building is a 9,000 square-foot facility with four studios, including a company studio for advanced dancers and a separate children's studio with its own waiting area, plus one-way viewing glass and sprung wood floors with professional marley coverings. The academy teaches ballet, pointe, variations, jazz, contemporary and modern dance and tap through a graded program running from preschool to pre-professional, in which children are placed by age and progress through the levels. A large recreation track serves students who want one class a week for fun and fitness without entering the graded program, while more serious dancers can join a junior company for ages 7-11 or a senior company for 12-20 that performs in and out of state. Rather than a typical recital, the school stages a full end-of-year production with sets, backdrops and professional lighting.