A dance studio that will serve all ages and dance levels will open at 25 Forest Ave. in Riverside by the end of August. The business fills the void left when Arcade Antiques left its longtime home inside the corner storefront of the Tower Apartment Building back in the spring of 2006.

The Principle Dance Studio's director, Heather Overbeck of Oak Park, has signed a lease for three storefronts of the building, which will include a dancewear retail shop.

The fall to spring programs will offer ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop, creative movement, dance fitness, and ballroom dancing. The early development program is offered to 2 to 6 year olds. The home program (7 years old to adult) is a recreational program for anyone, and will be organized by age and dance level, and will focus on one type of dance. Overbeck is considering having a teen techniques class that will teach both ballet and jazz.

The pathway program is pre-professional. Dancers need permission from the director to be involved, and will be required to take multiple ballet classes each week. Overbeck hopes it will become a performance company in time.

Summer classes began June 25 at the Hollywood Community Center while the studio is under construction, and sign up for fall programs will remain open.

"It's kind of slow [now] because I'm starting late in the summer," Overbeck said. "We're off to a good start and had a lot of hits off the website (www.principledance.com). People are probably waiting for that store front to be ready."

She said the studio is in an ideal location.

"I chose Riverside because there isn't a studio in that charming downtown area [and] I know there are a lot of young families, and dance is popular in the high schools," she said.

Overbeck is confident about the building itself, despite a 2005 incident in an apartment above the commercial space that forced Arcade Antiques to close. The Village of Riverside in early 2006 filed suit against the building's owners to clean the space, but dropped the suit when the problems were addressed.

"All the necessary work is being done to bring it up to code and make it a safe place," Overbeck said.

The studio will offer 1,500 square feet of dance space.

"We're putting a lot of work into it right now," Overbeck said. "I feel very confident the space will be beautiful when finished."

This is Overbeck's first experience owning a business and operating own dance studio. While the business side will be a new challenge to her, Overbeck is very confident in her teaching abilities.

Overbeck has been teaching dance for 10 years. She has a dancing degree from the University of Texas and has danced in Chicago professionally.

"I always had teachers tell me that I was a teacher," she said. Now, she too has realized this. "I really do love teaching. It really does fulfill me more than performing."

She has also taught for Wilbur Wright College and Act One Studios in Chicago.

"I'm ready to try to take all that I've learned and put it to good use myself," she said.

One important lesson she hopes to teach to Principle Dance students is an understanding of their bodies anatomically. Overbeck wants them to gain an understanding about the joints and bones and how they should be aligned while dancing.

"Athletes have this mentality of 'push yourself to the limit,'" Overbeck said. "Sometimes it's important to listen to your body when you've had enough and you need rest so you don't injure yourself."

Overbeck said she can't wait for the building to open and the classes to be underway.

"It's exciting because I have a lot of freedom, but at the same time I have to be mindful of why I started doing this in the first place," she said, "and not lose that focus of trying to bring an experience to students that I enjoyed growing up with dance."