In the 37 years during which Cheryl Brennan has run C and C Dance Company, eight of her students have received full college dance scholarships and several have landed contracts dancing on cruise lines or in Las Vegas.
But none have brought as much attention to the Bowie studio as Caitlin Kinney, the only dancer from the company to make it into the top 20 contestants on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."
After Kinney's debut on the show in early June, the studio went from having an average of 10 hits a day on its Web page to 500. More people are calling about lessons and some of the studio's 1,100 students are beginning to schedule more private lessons. Brennan, of Bowie, said she may have to hire more instructors to keep up with the demand.
Caitlin, 21, and her sister Megan, 18, were the first sister pair to make it on the show, on which dancers are paired and given a short time to learn and execute a choreographed piece. On the show, which is now in its fifth season, viewers vote for the dancers; those with the lowest number of votes compete in a dance-off for judges. Megan Kinney was cut from the top 36 dancers and Caitlin Kinney is now in the final rounds, which are being taped live in Los Angeles.
Caitlin and Megan Kinney's rise to stardom has not only increased interest at the studio but inspired the current students as well, said Carrie Kaub Smith, Brennan's daughter and co-owner of the studio.
"We have a group of 16-year-olds who are right behind Caitlin and Megan who are chomping at the bit to turn 18 and audition," Kaub Smith said.
The younger dancers are particularly excited about watching the competition, and lined up with scraps of paper to get autographs several weeks ago from the Kinneys when the sisters, who are from Annapolis, returned to the studio for what they thought would be a quick practice. Megan, who attends school in Miami, and Caitlin return to the studio to practice when they are in town, Kaub Smith said.
Millersville resident Lisa Burch said her seven-year-old daughter, Chloe, was one of the star-struck dancers who snagged an autograph. Her children usually are in bed by the time the show airs at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Burch said.
"Now my little ones are bothering me about watching the show," she added.
Nine-year-old Karinton DeVille of Bowie, said she'd someday like to be able to complete the acrobatic flips she's seen the Kinneys perform. The acrobatics in the sisters' routines are what can set them apart in a competition, Kaub Smith said. Acrobatic prowess definitely got the attention of judges when Caitlin Kinney performed her first routine in the top 20 showdown and started off a Bollywood number that featured a stiff handstand.
"She's a shining example of what we are able to produce," Kaub Smith said.
Caitlin Kinney began dancing at C and C when she was 10, Kaub Smith said. Two years later, after much hesitation, Megan Kinney began dancing as well. But from the beginning, both girls exhibited a natural flexibility that instructors encouraged them to tap into.
Photos of the Kinney's adorn the entryway of the studio and on June 11 about 125 dance students gathered to watch the voting results on the show. The studio plans to continue to have watch parties while Caitlin Kinney remains on the show and Brennan hopes students will continue to draw inspiration from watching her.
"When you see things on TV you think it's unattainable," Brennan said. "But when you know someone doing it, it's like ‘Hey, she's in my class. I can do that.' "
