T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Donovan Gavagan, Co-director Angie Torres, Lora Kubli, Caitlin Traylor, Aleigha Odom, Paulina Torres, Co-director Dani Gavagan and Kobe Sandoval stand in front of the sign at the new Remix Dance Academy space in downtown Marshalltown. The teachers and directors are hosting a grand opening on May 4 in partnership with Game Haven. Not pictured is teacher Brianna Tucker.

The journey to South First Avenue has been littered with various hurdles, but the co-directors of Remix Dance Academy have found a place for their students to dance. A grand opening for the business is scheduled for May 4.

The nonprofit studio was in the Marshalltown Mall when the power was shut off in November due to nonpayment by the mall’s owners, the Kohan Retail Investment Group. Co-directors Angie Torres and Dani Gavagan immediately began looking for a new location, and in January, they found one at 204 S. First Ave.

“It’s bigger. It’s better. We have more space,” Gavagan said. “We have room for offices for our teachers. We have storage, two bathrooms, the potential for a third dance floor. Before we only had two dance floors. I feel like this is a safer space. Being downtown, we are also closer to our demographic. We are the studio where everybody can dance.”

Once the space was secured, work began on the transformation. According to Gavagan, when they got there, there was one giant room. There were tanning rooms which had to be taken out, along with some damaged carpet and mold from the 2018 tornado and 2020 derecho. There were large leaks to be fixed and ceiling tiles and new flooring needed to be installed. Schumacher Construction volunteered to build walls in the new space, and Wild Cleaners and Junk Removal got rid of any trash.

“We really hope we’re going to be done by May 4,” Gavagan said. “That’s our goal.”

While it may seem that Remix would consume most of their time, both Torres and Gavagan have full-time jobs elsewhere. Torres is a therapeutic teacher with the Marshalltown Community School District, and Gavagan is the office manager at Wild Spirit Counseling.

Torres said it would have been easy to throw in the towel and shut the studio down after the mall incident, but it was not something they could do. The dancers thrive in the studio, she said.

“We have a lot of kids who show up here just to hang out,” Torres said. “We do things other places are not going to do. It’s just really a safe place. We have people who drive from different towns because they like the atmosphere. There is a need for this in the community.”

Gavagan said even though they place focus on providing a nonjudgmental environment, they also have dancers who compete and claim awards. Torres said the competing dancers have fun and love when they get recognized as it builds confidence. Some of their students are struggling with trauma, and Torres said they engage in social-emotional activities as well.

“We’re into uplifting,” Torres said. “No matter how you feel, you are always beautiful and we always love you.”

Remix scholarships are also available for students who might not be able to afford lessons. Because they are a nonprofit studio, Torres said they are able to get grants for the scholarships.

“The need has to be there, and we fit that need,” she said.

To help meet the scholarship requests, Gavagan said they operate Little Shop of Remix and create for-sale items, such as tumblers, shirts and keychains. Torres added they also host fundraisers every year. They sell cupcakes, butter braids and hold garage sales.

“If there was not a reason and need for this, we would not be killing ourselves,” Torres said. “Our husbands hate us most days because we’re gone.”

“We leave our day job and come straight here,” Gavagan said. “We really love the kids. If it was not for these kids, we would not be doing this. We stretch ourselves very thin, probably thinner than we should because we want to make sure these kids have a place.”

Mall experience

Remix began when Torres bought the downtown Xtremedance. The studio then moved into the mall when the COVID-19 pandemic began to abate.

“We had just redone everything, repainted everything, had new mirrors on the walls,” Gavagan said. “We literally redecorated the entire studio, and then the power in the mall went out.”

The directors then discovered the furnace was not working. Gavagan said they called to get it fixed but were told the bill for that service had not been paid either. They were left without heat in an Iowa winter.

“We had space heaters, which does not do well in 3,800 square feet,” Torres said.

Gavagan said the usage of space heaters significantly increased their electric bills. They had ceased paying rent to Kohan because the owner was not following through with required repairs, but the cost of the studio electricity bill became too high.

“Our electric bill had taken over what we were paying in rent,” Gavagan said.

Despite the chill, Torres said students kept coming. They came in layers and coats to participate in the shared love of dance.

“When we could see our breath, we decided even though they wanted to be there, we had to get out,” Torres said. “The pipes next door [in the old Younkers] broke and the water started coming in. That’s when we packed up, even though we were not close to coming here. We had to move our stuff.”

Grand opening

The studio is sharing the First Avenue building with Game Haven, another former Marshalltown Mall tenant which is now occupying the upstairs. So the two businesses are hosting a joint grand opening on Star Wars Day, May 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. A flier distributed for the grand opening states:

“A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, two struggling businesses banded together to fight the evil threat of the Mall Owners. After fleeing the ice-covered planet of the abandoned Marshalltown center, the two groups vowed to rebuild their worlds and bring peace to the dancers and gamers of Marshall County. These brave warriors founded a new civilization for their people. This new space serves as a ray of hope for all to see.”

Torres said they will grill burgers and hot dogs, open summer dance registration and provide tours of the new studio. She added that they agreed to go with the theme because of their upstairs neighbor.

According to Gavagan, they are not big Star Wars fans, but Game Haven’s employees and clientele are. The businesses get along with one another well, even borrowing tools or supplies from one another.

“They’re pretty good guys up there,” Gavagan said.

Torres said Game Haven also has the same type of customers — people who do not necessarily fit any traditional mold.

“They’re awesome,” she said. “We’re a building full of misfits.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.