“We want to go away from the stereotypes: who is a dancer, who isn’t,” says Filippo Pelacchi. “At the end of it, it is movement. There is no way that you should not do it because you don’t think you have the body for it. You do! Everyone is a dancer is some way.”
Pelacchi and his partner Russell Lepley, recently signed a lease for the former Clintonville Community Market site at 200 Crestview Rd. They plan to open Flux and Flow, a dance and movement studio, this Spring, 2017.
“We want to create a comfortable space where people can come as they are, get to know their bodies better, and find joy through movement,” says Lepley.
Lepley and Pelacchi met when they were in a contemporary dance ensemble in Munich. “We were actually checking each other out at the audition,” jokes Lepley. After becoming a couple, they knew that they wanted to help people move and express themselves.
“It was between Clintonvillle, Ohio and Florence, Italy … so here we are!” says Lepley.
Between them, the pair has lived in six different countries over the past 12 years, but as a native of Columbus, Lepley thought of Clintonville as an ideal place to start a dance studio.
“It is close to everything,” he says. “People can come up from Downtown. OSU students can get here easily by bus. More important, I just feel the vibe is right here.”
Lepley who grew up in Hilliard and Pelacchi, who is from Florence, Italy, both became passionate about dance as teenagers. Lepley trained at BalletMet and guest starred in Gerard Charles’ Aladdin. Pelacchi trained in France, Holland, and Switzerland. Both danced with professional companies in Europe before deciding to take a chance on the dance scene in central Ohio.
“We want to share with people that dance isn’t just about watching a performance; it is something that everyone can do,” says Lepley. “Yes,” agrees Pelacchi and, “It is not about the exercise but also about presenting yourself.” They enjoy seeing students take something from their dance lessons and make it their own.
“I really like the yogic idea of adapting the pose to the student,” says Lepley, who started doing yoga seriously to rehab a knee injury, “ — not forcing the student to look like a perfect picture of a pose — but modifying so they can enjoy the physicality of it without getting hurt or stressed. This idea of adjusting moves applies to a dance as well as a yoga studio. For instance, in our ballet classes we encourage students to access the positions of ballet in a way that makes sense for their own unique bodies. Dance can be intimidating or adults who believe they need to compare themselves to an idealized image. We want to do away with that idea.”
Local attorney and long-time yoga practitioner, Susan M. Sullivan is very interested in taking classes like that, “I always wanted to do ballet in a class like that,” she said.
Lepley and Pelacchi want to make the former market location a place for many movement arts.
“We want to have other people rent the space for dance performance or other activities,” they say. “This could be a great place for small dance events and intimate choreography that is new.”
They plan on having a mix of different dance and movement classes (perhaps including yoga as Lepley is finishing his yoga teacher training at Yoga On High) for students of high school age and up. Also, they may have advanced classes for off-season dance professionals or OSU students who are in between courses.
“We plan on giving university students and professionals some discounts,” Lepley said.
Pelacchi notes, “People want to get their exercise in and be healthy but also have an artistic outlet. With dance, you can exercise and have expression. People need art in life. You can exist with having water and food and an apartment, but to really live you need the arts.”
For more information, visit Flux-Flow.com.
