Since she was 3, Connie O’Reel has been dancing in a range of styles from ballet to tap and hip-hop. For the past eight years, she’s taken her passion and managed a dance studio in Orland Hills.
Now O’Reel, 32, is moving her business to Tinley Park, where she will have more space to hold multiple classes in the same time frame.
“For example, at five o’clock we can have a ballet class going in one room and a jazz class going in a different room,” O’Reel said.
At her former studio in Orland Hills, O’Reel had 1,800 square feet to work with. In Tinley, she’ll be jumping up to 6,500 square feet, O’Reel said. That will allow her to have two studio spaces.
Her school, Southwest Synergy Dance, will be located at 7909 W. 171st St., in the Tinley Downs Shopping Center.
O’Reel said her preschool program is particularly popular. The studio holds combination classes so children can do ballet and tap in the same session and get a feel for both, O’Reel said.
They also have “tiny hip-hop pom classes” for kids, and a mini-tumbling program.
“A lot of other studios don’t offer as much for the younger students,” O’Reel said.
Village officials recently voted to approve a special use permit for O’Reel to operate the studio. The studio is expected to host 50 dance classes a week for children ages 2-18, officials said.
Trustee Greg Hannon said he’s glad to see the vacant space occupied by a dance studio “that brings in a whole bunch of dancers.”
O’Reel bought the studio from the woman who taught her growing up and chose the name “Synergy” because “it’s two things coming together to produce a different outcome.”
