The Dance Lab

The Dance Lab offers dance instruction to children and adults alike in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, modern, creative and adult fitness. While our emphasis is on correct technique and form, we also stress the importance of creativity, personal expression, dance history and arts appreciation in attempt to mould the student into a... well-rounded artist regardless of their level of involvement. We understand that, though dance is a strictly disciplined art form, it is essential to enjoy our time learning it as well. Joan Mix Lande (Joanie) is a dancer, choreographer and performer who's professional career spans from Rochester to the Twin Cities, and various places in between. Joanie has been an avid dance enthusiast since age 5, growing up at the Janet Lang Dance Studio in Rochester, MN, fluently studying every form of dance offered at the time including ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, pointe, clogging, swing and danceline. As a 7th-grade student at Dover-Eyota High School, Joanie organized DE's first ever Dance Team that still exists today. In 2006, Joanie graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. During that time, she performed in five University Dance Theater Productions, including National ACDFA at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. Immediately after that, she performed as an apprentice with Carl Flink's Black Label Movement, Joanie Smith and Daniel Shapiro's Shapiro and Smith Dance, and Paula Mann and Steve Paul's Time Track Productions. In 2009 Joanie founded Rainy Day Cabaret and since then has produced five evening-length productions with that company, all based in Minneapolis. In 2010, Joanie directed, co-created and co-wrote RISE; an original production produced and performed by the Rochester Dance Company, held at the Mayo Civic Center, in Rochester. Since then she has worked with the Rochester Dance Company as the Assistant Director, Ballet Mistress and Stage Manager. Prior to founding The Dance Lab in 2016, Joanie taught dance at the Janet Lang ...Read More