Bonaire's Peacock Performing Arts Center offers dance, art, music under one roof
Not a typical dance studio, Peacock Performing Arts Center, which was acquired by new owners in the past year, offers "one-stop shopping" when it comes to music, dance and the visual arts.
Acquired from former owner Logan Kemper Youmans in December 2014, the studio, located at 402 Ga. 247, Suite 1300, in Bonaire, has taken on a new direction, according to co-owners, Erin Atcheson Sullivan and Chris Pinto.
The studio already offered a variety of dance classes, including genres such as ballet, jazz, tap, point, hip hop, modern, musical theater, acting, acrobatic dance and lyrical dance, as well as voice instruction, piano, guitar and percussion and pageant coaching. However, just this summer, art was added to the offerings, according to Sullivan. In the visual arts, Sullivan said the teacher takes the students through the different principles of art to help them gain understanding of the different elements in artistic creations. She said they work on a variety of mediums and paint, draw and sculpt.
"(What) separates us from others ... we offer dance, art and music under one roof," Sullivan said. "We want to give people a place where they can dance, sing or play an instrument ... or create a visual art as well ... while they are here."
The studio also boasts a competition dance team and has a total of 14 teachers. In addition, Sullivan said approximately 200 families are involved at the studio.
Sullivan and Pinto explained that life often takes people in unexpected directions. For these two childhood friends, that is exactly what happened when this business opportunity landed them both back to where their roots started.
Sullivan said she and Pinto both grew up in Houston County and graduated from Houston County High School in 2004. The two, according to Sullivan, had actually gone through elementary school together, and their mothers had taught at the same school. They both went to Valdosta State University, where they both graduated in 2008.
Sullivan explained that she had been friends with Pinto's wife, Christy, since middle school, and they actually roomed together during college. At the Pintos' wedding, Sullivan actually met her husband, Arthur.
Sullivan said that when the former owner of the studio approached her about the business opportunity, she was working as marketing coordinator for Flash Foods. Sullivan said she enjoyed her job and the company, but dance was her passion, and she felt the business would also give her the opportunity to invest in the community where she had grown up.
Pinto said since the eighth grade, he has always known that he wanted to own his own business. Although he started out working in sporting goods, he said he quickly found that retail was not for him and his family. He moved on to work at a YMCA in Florida as an aquatics director and in Augusta at a YMCA as a senior program director, which he said seemed to be a fantastic track for him and his family when the opportunity came up to purchase the studio.
"(We) jumped on board ... and here we are," he said.
Sullivan, who lives in Warner Robins with her husband, said she manages the artistic direction of the studio, including the vision of what they want to offer. Pinto, who lives in Bonaire with his wife and their two sons, Carter, 21 months, and Collin, 7 months, said his duties lie on the business side where he handles human resources, accounts receivable/billing and outreach in the community. He also is working to create partnerships with churches and day cares.
Sullivan said the studio is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., but most classes start around 4 p.m. and end around 9 p.m. The website is www.peacocksperformingarts.com and the contact number is 478-302-5642. They can also be found on Facebook.
This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Bonaire's Peacock Performing Arts Center offers dance, art, music under one roof ."