About Us

Our Mission

Revolutionary Dance & Movement Co is committed to providing a diverse, progressive, and quality education for all ages. We are inclusive and accepting of all. Students will experience an encouraging, safe, and nurturing environment. Developing each individual's artistic growth and becoming proficient as a technician and artist will prepare you with the tools required for a professional career if chosen. Most importantly, we are committed to growing you as a whole person through nourishment of the mind, body, and spirit. Here, you are loved.

Grow up with us!

Our students are Friends and Family for Life!

These sweet photos are just a couple of examples of students of ours who started with us as 3-4-year-olds and stayed with us over the course of 7-13 years!

We develop family-like relationships with our students as they grow up with us, mentoring them through life, not just as it applies to dance and the performing arts but to their lives. As students reach adulthood, we are included by their families in milestones, such as being invited to their graduation parties, weddings, and childbirths. I have even had the honor of planning a celebration of life for a former student. When we say, "You are part of our studio family," we mean it. It is our honor and privilege.

Marta Hazekamp

Owner & Director

Instructor of Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop, Tap, Social Dance, Vocal Coaching, and Drama.

Ms. Hazekamp is an Oregon native and was trained in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and passed examinations through Advanced, while apprenticing at Eugene Ballet Co. Soon after, Marta was a Principal Dancer in The Really Big Dance Co. in Portland before moving to NYC to pursue Broadway.

While living in NYC and New Jersey, she continued her training at Princeton Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Steps on Broadway, Alvin Ailey, and others. Marta taught in NYC, performed Off-Broadway, and was in the final casting call for the Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum when the tragedy of 9/11 hit NYC and the nation, subsequently closing down Broadway for months.

Upon returning to Oregon, Marta owned and directed the American Academy of Performing Arts (AAPAC) for 13 years, and later Revolutionary Dance & Movement Co. for 5 years. She was also the children's Ballet Mistress for Moscow Ballet of Russia's Nutcracker (traveling cast) and has choreographed for numerous theaters, including The Majestic (Corvallis), Linn-Benton Community College, and The Elsinore Theatre musical productions. She received the Silverton Chamber of Commerce’s Citizens Banquet Award, “Distinguished Services Award," in 2014.

Ms. Hazekamp has been teaching dance for 33 years. Her students have received numerous dance scholarships and have gone on to attend Juilliard School of Dance, Cornish College of the Arts, Tennessee Ballet Co., and other institutions. Many of them have built careers in acting, stage management, film, fashion, and costuming, and some have gone on to become dance teachers themselves.

Ms. Hazekamp is a single mom to a daughter, Dorothy Mae. She is also a professional singer, vocal coach, acting coach, actress, seamstress, book author, and multi-media artist.

Emily York

Tap Instructor

Emily York grew up “backstage”, as both her parents were dancers and musical theatre people. While her specialty and true love is tap dance, she enjoys teaching and performing other styles as well. She has performed in local community theatres and has choreographed for musicals at North Marion, Regis, and McKay High Schools. She is currently teaching and choreographing at McKay High School in Salem and Revolutionary Dance and Movement Company in Silverton.

Emily Hanson

Belly Dancing Instructor

Emily Hanson (Gifford) is a Silverton native who began her dance training at the age of 5 at Unger Academy of Ballet, under Elaine Unger. The R.A.D. training and exams gave her a solid dance foundation that supported her passion for dance beyond ballet and jazz. While at the University of Oregon, she expanded her dance training into ballroom and social dance. As an adult, she found her biggest passion, belly dancing. Emily has performed and taught belly dancing for over 20 years.

Karis Coleman

Ballet & Hip Hop Instructor

Karis is an Advanced ballet student at RDMC and has been training with Marta since she was 3. Karis started off as a teacher assistant in our mentor program 2 years ago and has been trained by Marta and other master teachers to teach beginner ballet, tumbling, and hip hop. Karis has attended a teacher training in the Comix Method, by Hip Hop guru John Comix. Karis was a scholarship awardee to the prestigious summer dance intensive, Summer Dance Lab at Whitman College, and was promoted to the highest level after one week. Ms. Coleman, though young, teaches with maturity and her energy is influential and exciting for her students! You may see Karis more often in the summer months assisting in our camps or teaching her own classes during the school year.

30-Year Traditions at RDMC

The culture at Revolutionary Dance is building a sense of FAMILY and COMMUNITY. We do this in many ways, but one way is our traditions. Here are some of them!

Banana Splits for Splits! What better encouragement to achieve flexibility than ice cream?! When a student achieves their splits forwards (right and left) and straddle split (sideways), we schedule an ice cream date with Ms. Marta. Students get to choose what kind of ice cream treat they want (since some don't like bananas), and get their photo taken for our website and social media (with parent permission). It's such a fun outing and fond memory for years to come!

Pointe Shoe Day! It takes years of commitment and hard work to achieve the readiness for pointe. We take this right of passage quite seriously, making it a celebratory day to remember! Ms. Marta drives the student and any other studio friends of their choice (to help celebrate) up to our favorite dance supply store Dance Togs (in Beaverton) for their pointe shoe fitting appointment. On the way, I teach them how to penny surf out the window and "fly the car" (all inside jokes, fun stuff that has carried on in tradition from other students over the past 30 years). Once their perfect pair has been chosen, we go out to lunch at a restaurant of their choice. Once we get back to the studio I teach them how to sew the ribbons and elastics on their new shoes and foot care.

Spot for Treasure! Fun incentives to learn new skills are always a WIN, especially when we play Treasure Box, or as I call it, "keep your eye on the prize"! Students LOVE (in fact BEG for) the Treasure Box, which is filled with a variety of fun small prizes. They have to properly "spot" their head 3 times turning to the right and 3 times turning to the left to get a prize from the box. We start to introduce the treasure box around level 1 or 2, depending on their ability to focus.

Game Week! Learning French Ballet vocabulary is always important. To make learning more fun, we hold game weeks twice a year, where we have game buttons, candy for points, and dance-related prizes for class winners. Sometimes we even challenge another class level to do a BIG contest for the annual reining of the class level! This year, ballet level 3 won against ballet level 4; they get bragging rights for a full year!

Policies

Illness and Absence Policy and Plan

Student Absences

If you/your child is not feeling well, please keep them home.
Please notify me (or their/your instructor) ASAP if they need to be absent. Many of our class sizes are small, and if too many people are out sick, we won't hold a class for one student attending and will need to cancel.
We do not refund or prorate absences. They must be made up or forfeited.
To make up for a class missed, Adults may take another adult dance class of their choice, and kids can make up at, below, or one level above their level. This includes ballet, hip-hop, and jazz, and can be a great way to try something new. If you are unsure, please contact us for your options.

Instructor absences

Instructors will notify you by text and/or email as soon as the imminent absence is known.
We will schedule a makeup class at a future date.
It is our responsibility to offer a makeup class that is accessible to the majority of the class, and we will assess this before setting the date, but it is not realistic to accommodate all schedules. If you cannot attend the makeup class offered, it will be lost.

Taking Time Off

Students who need time off for any reason need to let us know ASAP.
If we are notified ahead of time (30 days or more), we may prorate your time off.
If you need to take more than 30 days off: we will not charge you for that month's tuition IF you are coming back afterward, AND if you have notified us 30 days in advance.
If you notify us AT or AFTER the time has already been taken off, we will not prorate your absence. (i.e., we have no reason not to expect you in class, you don't come, and then say you are taking time off).

Leaving the Studio

We require 30 days' notice of leaving the studio in order not to be charged tuition.
If you leave the studio without notice you will not be refunded or credited.

General

AttenDANCE. Attending class is imperative to maintaining knowledge, strength, and flexibility, as well as team trust for accountability.

Especially with young people who are still learning about their bodies (what is not feeling well vs not feeling in the mood, pain vs stretching or getting stronger vs red flags, etc) we need to be diligent to understand if and when an absence is necessary and when we need encouragement to push through. You know yourself and your child better than anyone, so when in doubt listen to your instincts. As a parent, I also know there are days when you choose your battles.

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" Martha Graham

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